


Fading Like a Flower

by BaraLinni



Series: Petalsverse [2]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bad Puns, M/M, Non-Penetrative Sex, Oral Sex, Recreational Drug Use, Regular ass sex, Roleswap, Soft gentle sex overall, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2019-10-27 02:58:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 32,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17758475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BaraLinni/pseuds/BaraLinni
Summary: Zack joined the military because of his respect for Aerith, the Pink General, and in order to become a hero. One day, he finds himself dropped into an unexpected relationship with a young man from the slums: a man with silver hair and catlike eyes. But the wheels of fate keep turning, and lives and memories must keep fading, like a flower blooming in the slumsCrisis Core era prequel to Like Petals in the Wind





	1. Face of an Angel

“Tell me what happened”.

The familiar voice was a soothing presence in the darkness Zack found himself in. “Mom?” Zack sighed deeply, allowing himself to feel small for just a second. “I... I want to help out a friend. But... I don’t know how I can do it...”

“Hey”, his mom’s voice responded, but it sounded warbled. And a bit too deep.

Zack frowned. What was she playing at? “Mom?”

“Hey, you okay?” the voice asked, and the world suddenly turned completely white before slowly coming into focus again.

Zack found himself staring up at a high ceiling that he didn’t recognise, and he felt like he was floating. “... Heaven?”

The voice huffed. “Nowhere near”.

Zack turned his head to the side and was absolutely stunned by what he saw. Crouching down beside him was the most beautiful person he had ever seen.

Silvery bangs framed a perfect face crowned by incredibly green eyes, with pupils like a cat’s. Rays of light shone on the person’s long braid, making it seem like it was glowing.

“An angel...?”

The person snorted. “One more o’ those lines, an’ I’ll kick you in the dick”.

 _Not an angel, then._ And also, probably a guy. Maybe. Yeah, probably. Zack sat up, rubbing at a sore spot on the back of his head. “Ow”, he stated.

“Yeah, you better hurt after that shit, fallin’ right through my roof like that”.

Against his better judgment, Zack winked at the person. “Am I to take it you saved me, then?”

The person rolled his stunning eyes and stood up. “In your dreams. I just wanted to make sure some fuckin’ adrenaline junkie didn’t die on my flowers”.

Zack laughed and jumped to his feet. “Well, thanks for caring, either way”, he smiled brightly and gestured to himself. “I’m Zack!”

“And I’m armed”, the person said suspiciously, lifting a baseball bat with nails run through it. He watched Zack with a deadpan look when he chortled.

“You know what else you are?” Zack asked with a huge smile. “You’re funny!”

The person stared at him. “... Huh. Wasn’t expectin’ that one”.

Zack honestly didn’t even have to think to know that he definitely had to try to at least befriend this person. Time to use those natural charms of his. He crossed his arms and pretended to be deep in thought. “Well then, Armed-and-Funny, I think I oughta repay you somehow”.

Armed-and-Funny obviously tried to fight the smile that pulled at his lips at the name. “You really don’t”.

“No, no...” Zack insisted and started pacing, mostly for show but also to buy himself time. He just _had_ to become friends with this guy! And if things went a bit further than that, he _certainly_ wouldn’t complain... _That’s it!_ He snapped his fingers triumphantly and turned around, holding up a finger for emphasis. “Hey, how about one date?”

Armed-and-Funny snorted. “You sure are as dumb as you look, huh”.

 _Well, so much for that._ Zack sighed and hung his head dejectedly. Time for his usual walk of shameful rejection, then. He had only just lifted his foot when Armed-and-Funny called out to him.

“An’ don’t you fuckin’ step on my flowers!”

Zack frooze, looking down at where his foot had been about to land. Right on top of a flower. “Whoopsie”. Swaying slightly, he put his foot back down alongside its buddy.

“You know”, Armed-and-Funny said in a sour voice, “ _normally_ , people are more careful with flowers”.

“Well...” Zack winked at him and grinned, “I guess I’m not normal”. He smiled again at the unimpressed grunt he received before turning his attention to the flower. Or rather, the flowerbed he had just been about to prance right through. “Huh”, he said and bent down to look the whole thing over. “You don’t see a lot of flowers in Midgar. They’re like luxury items around here”.

Armed-and-Funny nodded, his expression softening for just a second. “This’s the only place they’ll grow. I planted some outside my house, too, but we’ll just have to see ‘bout those”.

Zack looked at the yellow and white flowers and tilted his head. “You know, if I were you, I’d sell them. Midgar’s full of flowers, your wallet’s full of money!” He turned to grin at his new friend. “Everybody wins!”

Armed-and-Funny pursed his lips as he considered this statement. “Huh. Never thought ‘bout it like that”.

“You’d make it big like that, I know it!” Zack beamed. _And now that he’s warmed up a bit... it’s time to strike!_ “So... d’you come here often?”

Armed-and-Funny gave him the most unamused look Zack had ever seen.

“Juuust kidding!” Zack hurriedly laughed. _Whew, what a save!_ “I’d like to know your name, though”, he added, unaware of how much his sincerity showed in his voice and on his face.

His new friend regarded him quietly for a few seconds, no doubt taking in his good looks. “... Seph”, he finally answered, and Zack felt his whole face light up.

“That’s a cool name! I’m Zack!”

Seph let out a surprised burst of laughter. “I know, you said already”.

Zack averted his eyes and scratched at the back of his neck. “I did, didn’t I...”

Seph snorted, and there was a comfortable silence for a moment. “So, where’d you come from, anyway?”

“That’s...” Zack began, and then he shrugged, “a long story”.

“And where’re you goin’ now?” Seph asked with a knowing look.

“I’m... not really sure”, Zack answered, truthfully. Granted, he had to get back to the Shinra Building sooner or later, but there was still the question of _how_ he was going to get back... “... Wait. Where am I, exactly?”

Seph laughed and wiped his hands on his trousers. “That lost, are you?” He straightened his back and walked around the flowerbed, toward the door, and beckoned for Zack to follow him. “C’mon, I’ll show you the way. An’ watch the flowers”, he added sternly just as Zack was about to plow right through them for the second time.

Zack took a detour around the flowers before he half-jogged to catch up with Seph’s long strides, grinning, and nudged his arm with his shoulder. “Oh, I see how it is”, he teased. “You just want to spend more time with me, right? It’s okay, you can tell me”.

Seph rolled his eyes and nudged him back. “Hardly. But someone has to make sure you don’t go find somewhere else to fall”.

Zack raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Afraid I’ll go fall through the roof of someone prettier?”

Seph snorted. “That’s impossible”, he declared and tossed his braid over his shoulder. “In all the slums, I’m the prettiest one you’ll find”.

~~

“It’s kinda stuffy down here, dontcha think?”

Seph raised an eyebrow at Zack’s sudden question. “Yeah, but it’s always like this”.

“I don’t get why though”, Zack continued, suddenly very bothered about this one detail. He put his hands on his hips and leaned his head back to think. Then it hit him. “That’s it!” he exclaimed and smacked his fist into his palm before pointing upwards. “You can’t see the sky!”

Seph followed his finger with his eyes and stared quietly up at the underside of the plate above them. “Yeah”, he murmured.

Zack frowned. Was that an undertone of sadness that his keen people senses were picking up? “... Have you always lived here in the slums?” he asked.

Seph shook his head. “Since I was twelve. Before that, I lived in loads of places”. He sighed, and the corner of his mouth stretched into a lopsided smile. “Places where you could see the whole sky spread out above you”.

“... Do you miss it?”

Seph sighed again. “Sometimes”, he admitted, before lowering his gaze and continuing to walk. “Anyways, we’re in Sector 5. There’s a marketplace in the central slums, you can go above the plate from there”.

 _So that’s the end of that conversation, then_ , Zack noted as he fell into stride with Seph. “Alright! As long as I can get out onto the streets, I can figure things out from there”.

As they walked, Zack’s eyes kept being drawn to Seph. He really had looked like he missed seeing the sky a lot. In that moment, Zack made a promise to himself. _One day, I’ll take him to see the sky!_

“We’re here”.

Seph’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts just as they passed through a big gate. They stepped out into a seemingly circular-ish area surrounded by high walls, with people scattered about, standing at tables with trinkets on them. So this was the marketplace, then.

Zack hummed. “Wow, this looks like an interesting place”. He turned his head just in time to catch Seph watching him, as if waiting for his approval of the place.

When Seph realised that he had been caught, he shifted his weight, making his bangs cover half his face. “You think so? Wanna take a look around?”

Zack nodded enthusiastically, eager to find out what the stalls had in... _store_ for him. “Sure! I've got some time to kill”.

The stalls didn’t actually have all that much in store, and way too soon for Zack’s liking, they had windowshopped their way through the whole marketplace.

“Well, I guess that’s all of it”, he noted, trying not to sound too incredibly disappointed.

He must have done worse than he thought, because Seph raised an eyebrow and smirked at him knowingly. “Now who’s the one wanting to spend more time with who?”

Zack scratched at the back of his head sheepishly. “Okay, you got me there”. He sighed and put his hands at his hips. “Well, I guess I better- Huh?” He patted the pockets at his sides, then shoved his hands in them before repeating the process with his back pockets. His phone was still there but... “My wallet’s gone!” he groaned. “I must’ve lost it somewhere!”

Seph looked at him calmly before shrugging. “Can’t be helped, then. I’ll help ya look”.

“Will you? Thanks!” Zack shot him a relieved smile before fixing his eyes to the ground. “Okay, let’s start by retracing our steps”.

“A capital idea, Sherlock”, Seph said with a roll of his eyes.

“Elementary, my dear Watson”, Zack grinned and once again turned his eyes to the ground. “Now, if _I_ were a wallet...” he murmured to himself as he let his eyes sweep across the road like a searchlight, “where would I wanna get off the ride?”

They made their way back around the marketplace, through the big gate, and back in the direction of the church Zack had woken up in. With each step, Zack became increasingly worried.

“What if I can’t find it, Seph?” he whined and kicked at the ground. “I’m not a clever hen, I keep all my eggs in the same wallet”.

Seph snorted a laugh and shoved at his shoulder. “Guess you’ll just hafta get rich sellin’ those flowers with me, then”.

Zack paused for a second before his face lit up. “Seph! That’s a _great_ idea!”

Seph watched him warily for a moment. “... You think so?”

Zack nodded. “Yeah! Think how much fun it’d be-” He cut himself off to gasp dramatically. “I have an idea! Let’s make a wagon!”

Seph cocked his hip and raised an eyebrow. “A wagon?”

“Yeah! A flower wagon! Then we can cart flowers all around Midgar selling them!” Zack explained enthusiastically. This was the best idea of his life! He excitedly watched Seph’s face as he considered this marvellous suggestion.

“... Huh”, he finally said. “I guess that’d work?”

Zack grinned brightly. “You bet it would! I’ll come ‘round and make one with you next time I have some time off! Whaddaya say?”

Seph tilted his head, but his bangs couldn’t cover his soft smile. “... Yeah. That’d be fun”. Then he quickly straightened his back and pointed at a pile of trash behind himself. “Oh, look. That your wallet?”

Suddenly remembering his financial worries, Zack bounded over to him to peek into the pile. He saw something black and worn but still somewhat shiny, and gasped in delight. “It is!” He quickly picked it up and wiped the dust off on his trousers. “How’d it get in there?”

Behind him, Seph averted his eyes and shrugged. “Beats me”.

~~

With the previously lost, now found wallet shoved deep in Zack’s pocket, Zack and Seph made their way back to the central slums. Not because Zack particularly wanted to leave just yet, but because that just happened to be where they ended up. And since Zack had now been so vividly reminded of the impermanence of money, he might as well windowshop some more. Especially if it meant getting to hang out more with Seph.

He glanced up at Seph, only to catch him looking back at him. Their eyes met briefly, and then Seph cocked an eyebrow teasingly and shoved at him. Zack grinned brightly and shoved him back.

A whistle reached them, interrupting their shoving battle. “Well, look at you two lovelies~ That your boyfriend, Sephy?”

While Zack tried to identify the owner of the voice, Seph made a show out of pursing his lips in thought while looking Zack up and down.

“Hmm... not sure yet. Gotta get a good look at the goods first”.

Before Zack could say anything to defend himself, the clerk at the booth closest to them laughed. “Right you are, hun, right you are”. Then he smiled sweetly at Zack. “C’mere, sweetie, let me take a look at you”.

Confused, Zack stepped forward, and the clerk left his post to walk slowly in a circle around him, humming to himself.

“Hmmmm. Nice arms, pretty face...”

Zack yelped as the clerk suddenly pinched his ass.

“Ooh, I see you do squats”, the clerk smiled and leaned in close to Zack, his minty fresh breath puffing against his ear. “Great job”, he whispered before pulling back and positioning himself in front of Zack. “And now, let’s see a smile!”

Zack stared at him before glancing over at Seph, and his heart skipped a couple of beats.

Seph was watching the two of them with an openly amused face and a soft look in his eyes, and the mere sight of it was enough to leave Zack smiling like there was no tomorrow.

Seph cocked an eyebrow at him, still with that look in his eyes, and the clerk giggled.

“You know what, dear, this one has my approval”. He smiled at Zack and patted his arm, squeezing his bicep just a bit before leaning over toward Seph. “Just remember to stay safe”, he added in a theatrical whisper that Zack was definitely meant to hear.

Seph rolled his eyes. “How could I _not_ remember when you all’ve beaten it into my head?”

The clerk giggled and then froze as he spotted something over Zack’s shoulder. “Is that-” He gasped. “ _Darling_ , how have you been? It’s been _ages!_ ” he exclaimed and hurried off, momentarily more concerned about catching up with an acquaintance than judging Zack’s muscles.

Once he was out of earshot, Zack let out a relieved sigh. “Thank _goodness_ I got out of that alive. My ass has never felt this invaded before”.

Apparently completely unprepared for that comment, Seph exploded with laughter.

Zack watched in amazement as Seph nearly doubled over, hands pressed to his stomach and tears in his eyes, and Zack realised that he would do anything to make Seph laugh like that all the time.

“Can I buy you something?” he blurted out, and Seph looked up at him with an amused huff and a wink.

“Dunno, _can_ you?”

Zack thought about the general state of his personal economy and tried not to wince. “Yeah, totally! Gotta repay you for waking me up back then. And for finding my wallet”.

Seph wiggled his eyebrows at him, a mischievous gleam in his eyes. “I thought you were repayin’ me with a date?”

“People buy each other gifts on dates all the time”, Zack said and leaned closer to Seph with that same gleam in his own eyes. “So legally, we could do both, if you want”.

Seph laughed again and cocked his hip. “Alright then”, he said, “buy me something”.

Suddenly, the clerk came sweeping back to his booth, taking the opportunity to brush his hand along Zack’s bicep again. “Did I hear the word ‘buy’? I’m all yours, darlings, take your time”.

Zack nodded and then held up a finger at Seph. “One thing: you can’t look. It’ll be a surprise!”

Seph gave him a disbelieving look, but closed his eyes.

Zack rubbed his hands together excitedly. He needed to pick out something good- no, scratch that. He had to pick out the best thing this stall had to offer. His eyes moved over the array of accessories and knicknacks, finally landing on the perfect one. “This one”, he decided and grabbed the item of his choosing. It felt soft between his fingers, and he knew that this was it: the ultimate first date gift.

The clerk accepted his payment with a smile. “I don’t want to ruin the surprise, so I won’t comment”, he said with a pointed look at Seph.

“Traitor”, Seph muttered, still with his eyes closed.

Zack turned toward Seph and felt his heart skip another beat at what he was about to do. He slowly reached out to take the top part of Seph’s braid in his hand, marvelling at how heavy it was. Then, he took the ribbon he had bought and tied it around the braid - to the best of his ability, anyway. He let his hands linger on Seph’s shoulder while he turned to the clerk. “Is that good?”

The clerk hummed. “A bit wonky, but it’ll stay on, at least”.

“Alright!” Zack cheered and did a fistpump, feeling like he had gained a sliver of recognition. “Seph, you can open your eyes now”.

Seph did, and turned to the nearest mirror. He studied his reflection quietly for a moment, before pulling at his braid and craning his neck to see the real thing. “Pink? You sure ‘bout that?”

Zack smiled. “Sure! Brings out your eyes”, he added truthfully. The pink ribbon really made a nice contrast to Seph’s eyes, making them stand out even more, however that was possible. “It looks great”.

Seph’s gaze moved between Zack and the mirror, until finally, he nodded. “Y'know what? You're right”.

Zack felt like he could float away at any second. He knew a ‘thank you’ when he saw one. “I've still got time”, he blurted out before even realising it himself, “so we can go somewhere else if you want”.

Seph looked slightly taken aback by this, but then his face grew more neutral and he shrugged. “Sure”.

And that was a ‘yes’! Zack honestly couldn't believe his luck.

Behind them, the clerk laughed. “Oh, don't mind me, you two go have some fun”. Then he reached past Zack to place his hand gently on Seph's arm. “You should come visit sometime. We miss having our mascot around”.

Seph huffed a laugh and rolled his eyes. “And deal with you queens? A man has his limits, you know”.

The clerk laughed. “Whatever you say, sweetie. Just know that there’s always room for our little Sephy”. Then he turned to Zack, and his face set into a serious look, and when he spoke, his voice had dropped a full octave. “And if you ever hurt our lil’ baby, you’ll have a pack of queens hunting you down to skin you for a purse”.

Suddenly honestly fearing for his life, Zack swallowed and nodded. “Understood”.

~~

“Ooh, is that a slide?” Zack gasped and skipped ahead of Seph, making a beeline for the incredibly cute slide.

“Don’t, you’ll get stuck”, Seph called after him. “Trust me”.

Zack gave the slide a disappointed pout, but slowed down until Seph had caught up. “So, do you come here a lot?”

Seph shrugged noncommittally. “I pass through, sometimes. Not on weekends, though. That’s when those SOLDIER dudes hang out here”.

“Really?” Zack had no idea that this was actually a hang out spot.

“Yeah, total douchebags, the lot of them”.

“... Really?” Zack felt that was something he’d have to look into.

“Also, their weed sucks”.

Zack almost stumbled over his own feet in shock. “... _Oh?_ ” he squeaked.

Seph nodded seriously. “Fuckin’ cheap shit is what it is. Honestly the worst high of my life”.

Okay. This was clearly something that Zack would have to both look into and possibly get used to.

“You ever meet any?” Seph suddenly asked, and Zack felt incredibly put on the spot.

“... _Drugs?_ ” he asked.

Seph laughed and rolled his eyes. “ _SOLDIERs_ , genius”.

“... Oh”.

Before he could answer, Seph continued. “Honestly, they annoy the crap outta me. Actin’ all high ‘n mighty just ‘cause they get some weird stuff put in ‘em by the Shinra”. He walked over to lean back against the railing around the little playground. “‘Protectors of peace’ my ass. Those fucks just love fightin’”.

That hurt. Quite a bit. Zack crossed his arms, shoving at the ground with his boot. “... Actually, I’m with SOLDIER”.

Seph stayed silent for so long that Zack started to think that maybe he hadn’t even heard him. Then he tilted his head downward, hiding his eyes behind his bangs. “... Well, this’s awkward”.

Zack guessed that that was meant as something like an apology. And honestly, he was finding it hard to stay grumpy when Seph was near. “Tell me about it. I had no idea you smoke”.

Seph quickly glanced up at him, and his whole body seemed to relax when he saw Zack’s teasing smile. “Oh, I’ve done a lot more than smoke, believe you me”, he retorted, and they both laughed before falling into a comfortable silence.

Zack took the opportunity to walk over and lean against the railing beside Seph, brushing their hands together briefly. He looked up at Seph, who was watching him with an amused smile.

“Is that why your eyes look like that?” Seph suddenly asked, once again catching Zack off guard.

“You know it”, he grinned and batted his eyelashes. “Mako eyes, a SOLDIER trademark. You like ‘em?”

Seph hummed thoughtfully and Zack’s breath hitched when he leaned closer, his face suddenly incredibly close to Zack’s own. “... They’re like the sky...” Seph murmured softly, and Zack felt a pleasant shiver run through him when Seph’s breath puffed against his lips.

He jumped and let out a surprised yelp when his phone suddenly rang shrilly. Quickly taking it out and flipping it open, Zack frowned at the caller ID before answering.

“Zack, return to the Shinra Building now”, Tseng instructed curtly. “Genesis has attacked us”.

Zack felt his adrenaline flare up at those words. “On my way”, he confirmed and pocketed his phone again. Then he turned back to Seph with an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, but duty calls”.

Seph nodded. “Sounds like you better get goin’, then”. Was it just Zack, or did he actually sound rather disappointed?

“Yeah”, he agreed and pushed off from the railing. Then he turned around and smiled uncertainly. “Will I... see you again?”

Seph shrugged theatrically. “‘S not like I can stop you”, he lamented. “After all, you know where I hang out”.

That was a yes! “Great!” Zack could practically feel his whole face beaming. “Then I’ll drop in asap!”

“I’ll hold ya to that”, Seph said, and then his mouth stretched into a wide grin and he shot Zack a wink. “But you could use the door next time”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back~! Gosh it feels good to get back to posting for the Petalsverse again. Crisis Core is my favourite part of the compilation, so I've been really excited to write this!  
> I figured that swapping Sephiroth and Aerith’s roles doesn’t actually influence the main storyline of Crisis Core that much, so this fic will mostly be scenes where Zack and Seph interact. Like in Petals, some exposition and important plot points will be lost, but I have faith that you can handle it <3  
> Most chapters are much shorter than this one, since I intend to keep long time skips inbetween chapters


	2. Falling in (Love)

“Hellooo, I’m dropping in!” Zack called as he poked his head through the church doors, his heart fluttering at the sight of Seph crouching by the flowerbed.

As Zack walked closer, Seph looked up from his work and his lips pulled into a small smile. “You sure didn’t stay away for long, did you?”

“I didn’t”, Zack agreed and struck an impressive pose beside Seph. “This place needed too badly to be graced by my presence. So, here I am!”

Seph snorted and his smile widened. “Consider it graced”.

Zack’s heart stuttered again, and without thinking, he crouched down beside Seph, who shot him a questioning look when their knees bumped together. _Oh no, awkward silence approaching! Come on, Zack, less thinking, more talking!_ “Do you...” Zack began, eyes darting to the side to gather inspiration, “need a hand with the flowers?”

“Nah”, Seph responded, and Zack felt his shoulders slump. “I’d rather not have more than two hands”.

Zack stared at Seph for a couple of very quiet seconds, running those words through his brain again and again. Then, he burst out laughing. Uncontrollably.

Beside him, Seph cocked an eyebrow in disbelief. “It wasn’t _that_ funny”, he objected when Zack had to hold onto his shoulder to avoid losing his balance.

“I _know_ ”, Zack squeaked, leaning heavily onto Seph’s shoulder, his whole body shaking with laughter.

He didn’t have to look to know that Seph was rolling his eyes. “You’re unbelievable, you know that, right?”

Zack wiped at his tearing eyes and tried his best to control his laughter. “That’s... the most beautiful thing... anyone’s-” He was interrupted by an explosion of laughter that didn’t stop even when Seph pushed him off balance and made him topple over onto his side.

“Y’know what? My flowers deserve better than this”, Seph declared. He stepped over Zack, who was treated with an incredible view of those long legs of his. “I’m taking you for a walk”.

Zack immediately perked up at this. “A walk?!” he exclaimed and jumped to his feet. “Count me in! We can go exploring and you can show me some cool-” A thought hit him and he gasped with delight. “You can show me your house!”

“Woah, slow down, Maurice”, Seph laughed and walked over to push at Zack’s head with his fist. “I don’t invite just any random guy into my house. Not after what happened last time”.

“Oh? What happened last time?” Zack asked as they started to walk, eager to hear the rest of the story.

Seph looked like he was thinking back, and then he shrugged. “Don’t remember, exactly. Mom threw a fit, though. Said the whole house smelled like pot for days”.

Zack stared at him, incredulous. “You smoked pot in your _house!?_ ” Zack couldn’t even imagine what _his_ mom would do if he suddenly decided to host a weed party _in the house._

“Pot, and pretty much everythin’ else”, Seph nodded. “Not my brightest idea, I’ll admit. Man, I was fucked up for _days_ ”.

Being a country boy, Zack didn’t know if he’d ever even _seen_ a drug. _How do people even get hold of drugs?_ He had no idea. “How old were you?” he asked, mostly to keep the conversation going.

“Seventeen”, Seph answered.

Not too long ago, then, Zack figured. Not surprising that his mom still didn’t want strangers in the house.

He let his eyes sweep over their surroundings, taking in the heaps of building materials and junk that framed the road.

“Somethin’ on your mind?”

Zack shrugged and smiled sheepishly. “It’s just... It’s kinda cluttered down here, isn’t it?”

“Oh?” Seph grinned and bumped into him with his shoulder. “Too dirty for you, is it?”

Zack looked around and shook his head. “Unfortunately, I feel right at home!”

Seph snorted. “Figures. You don’t exactly scream ‘neat freak’”.

Zack laughed. The very idea. “Feels good to know I don’t give people false hopes, at least”. He grinned up at Seph, whose eyes were fixed on the top of Zack’s head. “Like what you see?” Zack asked with a wink and tilted his head toward Seph. “Free of charge”.

Through his bangs, he saw Seph huff out a laugh, and then a hand landed in his hair. Zack closed his eyes as Seph’s hand ruffled his hair, before lifting his hand, putting it back down, and lifting it again. Trying out the gravity defying powers of the Fair-do, as it were.

“What d’you even put in it?” Seph asked, fingers combing through Zack’s spikes.

“Not much, to be honest”, Zack shrugged. “Angeal always says it has a mind of its own”.

Seph ruffled Zack’s hair again and hummed when his efforts obviously yielded no results. “Sounds legit”. He paused for a moment, quirking an eyebrow at Zack. “Who’s Angeal?”

Zack froze. For a second, he had forgotten all about what had happened - about Genesis and Angeal. “He, uh...” He sighed and scratched at the back of his head, averting his eyes. “He’s my mentor. Or was... Man, I dunno”. He took a deep breath, and shook his head. “It’s complicated. And kind of confidential”.

He jolted when he suddenly felt Seph flick his forehead, and he looked up to see a soft smile on Seph’s face.

“‘S okay. Some things're better left alone”, Seph said, and Zack got the feeling that he was basing that statement on his own experiences. “Tell me one thing, though”, Seph continued and waggled his eyebrows. “Is he hot?”

“Yeah”, Zack answered after less than half a second’s deliberation.

Seph laughed and bumped Zack with his hip. “Then you better show me pics later”.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to get this show on the road and post twice in one week because why not. The rest will be posted once a week because I need the motivator to get out of bed on Mondays.  
> Also, I don't know if you've noticed, but I love Zack so much...


	3. Sappy Birthday

“Hell-llo again!” Zack called cheerfully from the door and strutted toward Seph. Or perhaps ‘bounced’ would be more accurate. Today was a great day, after all!

Seph looked up at him from where he was crouching and squinted suspiciously. “You’re unusually happy. Careful you don’t float off”.

Zack laughed. “I make no promises”. He stopped beside Seph, bouncing on his heels. “Do you want to know why I’m so happy?”

Seph pursed his lips in thought and hummed. “I dunno, _do_ I?”

Zack laughed again and bumped Seph’s shoulder with his knee. “You do, trust me”. He widened his stance and put his hands to his sides. “Today’s my birthday!”

“Okay”, was all Seph said before going back to tending to his flowers.

Zack’s shoulders slumped. “Is that it?” he asked, trying not to sound too disappointed. “No birthday wishes? No presents?” He looked at Seph pleadingly. “Not even a teeny tiny one?”

Seph laughed and wiped his hands on his trousers before standing up. “I’m just fuckin’ with you. As it happens, I have something for you”.

Zack couldn’t help but gasp in delight. “Really?”

Seph nodded, but his eyes didn’t meet Zack’s. “Close your eyes. And don’t open ‘em before I say so”, he instructed sternly.

Zack nodded. _A surprise!_ “Alright!” he agreed and closed his eyes. With all his other senses on full alert, he heard Seph breathe in deeply before stepping closer. He felt Seph’s hands run down his arms, the light touch leaving goosebumps in its wake. And then, he felt Seph’s breath ghost over his lips.

“Happy birthday”, Seph murmured, before he pressed their lips together.

The moment lasted for a split second, and then Zack’s eyes flew open.

Immediately, Seph’s lips were gone and he stepped back, turning away his face. Zack expected him to say something, but he stayed silent, his face hidden behind his bangs.

It was up to Zack to save the situation, then. He gave Seph an apologetic smile. “Sorry. I know you told me not to look”.

Seph glanced over at him before averting his eyes again. “No, it’s okay. I shouldn’t’ve...”

Zack shook his head, a grin that he hoped looked more charming than silly on his face. “No way! That was the best birthday present ever!”

Seph turned his head to look at him through his bangs. “... Really?” he asked sceptically.

“Really”, Zack confirmed, trying to sound as sincere as he possibly could.

Seph watched him for a moment before he smiled and rolled his eyes. “You don’t have very high standards, do you?”

“... I don’t know if you’re underselling yourself or making fun of me with that”.

Seph huffed a laugh, and Zack smiled. _Situation: saved._

He still had a question, though. Thinking of how best to phrase it, he shuffled his feet. “Hey... If I’m good, will I get another one for my next birthday?”

Seph’s sudden burst of laughter quickly stopped when he turned and saw Zack’s face. “... You’re serious?”

 _Of course I am_ , Zack thought to himself and scuffed at the floor with the toe of his boot. He didn’t look up at the sound of Seph walking closer, too busy studying the wood grain of the floorboards.

“Y'know”, Seph said softly, and brushed his fingers against the back of Zack’s hand, “you might get one now if you ask nicely”.

Zack suppressed a shiver at the touch, looking up at Seph with his best puppy eyes. “Pretty please?”

Seph’s smile and pointed look made Zack’s heart flutter, and he closed his eyes expectantly, feeling like his whole body was vibrating.

He felt a soft puff of air against his mouth, and then Seph’s lips were on his again. This time, Zack dutifully kept his eyes closed, and was rewarded with a much longer kiss that made him feel like all his brain cells were on vacation, in the best way possible.

He let out a tiny sound of protest when Seph finally pulled back, and his hands instinctively landed on Seph’s hip bones, keeping him in place. “We-”, he began, not even sure himself where he was going with this. “We can keep going... if you want to. I want to, at least”.

Seph looked down at him, and his eyes shone with the hint of a giddy smile. “Sure”, he said simply before he leaned in for another kiss, his hand moving up to cup Zack’s face. He tilted Zack’s head slightly and moved his lips against Zack’s, sucking gently on his lower lip.

Zack made a low keening sound and wrapped his arms around Seph’s waist, both to get closer to him and to stay somewhat upright.

_Best. Birthday. Ever._

After an eternity and still somehow way too soon, the long kisses transitioned into short, light kisses on and in the general vicinity of the mouth.

Zack wasn’t sure exactly when they had ended up on the floor, but seeing as he was sitting with his arms around Seph’s back and his legs slung comfortably over Seph’s, he sure wasn’t complaining.

Seph gave him another peck on the lips and smiled. “So, how old are you, anyway?”

“Seventeen!” Zack answered and nuzzled at his jaw. He was surprised when Seph suddenly pulled back and looked him up and down.

“... Really?” he asked disbelievingly.

Zack frowned up at him. “What do you mean, ‘really’?”

Seph made a face that translated roughly into ‘idk, man’, and shrugged. “I thought you were, like, more my age”.

Honestly, Zack had thought Seph was around _his_ age. “... Wait, how old are you?”

Seph looked at him with a hard-to-read expression. “... Twenty-one...”

Zack blinked up at him. “Oh. Okay, that’s fine, then”, he decided and leaned in for yet another kiss. Instead, his mouth hit a hand, and he opened his eyes to give Seph a confused look.

“You sure?” Seph asked, looking completely serious.

Zack nodded and gave him a reassuring smile. “I’m sure! What’s four years matter anyway?” To further drive his point home, he leaned forward again and pressed his mouth to Seph’s, feeling his heart flutter at the touch. A pleasant shiver ran down his spine when Seph reciprocated and licked at his lips, and he moaned softly into the kiss. Yeah. If there was one thing he was in that moment, it was ‘sure’.

~~

As soon as Zack walked onto the SOLDIER floor, an arm was thrown around his shoulders.

“Well well, if it isn’t our birthday boy back in one piece and looking absolutely elated”, Kunsel teased and poked at his ribs. “You get something good?”

Zack squirmed and poked Kunsel’s side with his elbow, to which Kunsel responded by dramatically doubling over in fake pain. “You betcha!” he said, striking a pose and smiling brightly. “I got a boyfriend!”

Immediately, Kunsel’s faked grimace was replaced by a face of genuine joy. “Aaw, look at you! Congratulations!” he cheered and threw his arm around Zack’s shoulders again in a hug. “Someone I know?”

Zack shook his head. “Nah, he’s from the slums”.

Kunsel grinned and poked at Zack’s cheek. “Ooh, going for the rugged type, are you?”

“He’s nowhere _near_ rugged”, Zack laughed, his expression growing dreamy as he thought about how best to describe Seph. “He’s the prettiest person I’ve ever seen”.

“... In that deep already, huh?”

“Yeah...” Zack answered distractedly before coming back to reality. “I’m dead serious, though. Here, I’ll show you!” He hurriedly dug out his phone and located the one photo that Seph had deemed decent enough to be spared from his purge of blurry and inaccurately angled photos, and he thrust the phone in Kunsel’s face. “There he is!”

Kunsel leaned back a bit and squinted at the small screen. Then he leaned closer again and squinted even harder. “... _Damn_ ”.

Zack was positively beaming with pride. “I know right!”

Kunsel looked from the phone to Zack and then back again, before squeezing Zack’s shoulders and bumping a fist into his chest. “ _Damn_ right! Who knew our resident casanova would get swept up by an actual fairytale prince!”

“Hey, I did my fair share of sweeping, too”, Zack pointed out before huffing a laugh. “Heh. My Fair share”.

“Oh, I’m _sure_ you did”, Kunsel laughed. Then, his face grew more serious. “Hey, a tip from one bro to another: keep in touch with him”.

“What’s this all of a sudden?” Zack smiled and rolled his eyes. “Of course I’m keeping in touch. I’ve been going there as often as I can this far, and I plan to keep doing it”.

Kunzel shook his head and gently rapped at Zack’s head with his knuckles. “I mean with your phone, country boy”.

_Oh. Yeah, that’s a thing, isn’t it._

“We both know you suck at that”, Kunsel continued, ignoring Zack’s offended look, “but, being in SOLDIER, you won’t be able to visit as often as you’d like. Or as often as he’d deserve”.

That last addition made something seize up in Zack’s heart. Kunsel did have a point.

When Zack stayed quiet, Kunsel sighed and ruffled his hair. “Just try to text him at least once a day, yeah? He’ll appreciate it, trust me”.

Still with that weird feeling in his heart, Zack nodded. “Thanks, I’ll do that”.

Kunsel patted him on the back. “You better”.

When Zack got back to his room, all he could think about was Seph and what Kunsel had said. Would being in SOLDIER really make it that hard to keep up a relationship? Would there come a point when he didn’t have the time to visit Seph almost every day? He sighed and did a couple of squats, trying to clear his thoughts by moving his body. It didn’t work, of course. Once he had reached this conclusion, he threw himself onto the bed and did the only thing he could think of: he grabbed his phone and sent Seph a text.

_hi!_

Was that too little? Too much? Should he have capitalised the first letter after all? Was it really too early in their relationship to add a heart? Was it too late in the evening to add an exclamation point? What if Seph was already asleep? What if Zack had just woken him up? What i-

Zack felt like he was about to have a heart attack when his phone chirped and the little mail icon appeared at the top of the screen. With equal parts excitement and trepidation, he opened the text.

_hey whats up_

Okay, at least Seph hadn’t capitalised anything either, so Zack couldn’t be too much in the wrong. But no exclamation point... Did that mean something? Had Zack been coming on too strong? Ugh, this was why he preferred talking face-to-face...

 _nothing. just wanted to-_ He had to pause there. What did he want? He pondered this for a while before deciding on a relatively safe bet. _-say goodnight_

Seph’s response came in almost immediately.

_u goin to sleep already? military sure sounds boring_

Okay, this was going well! Now, Zack had two options for how to answer. He smiled. The choice was obvious.

_it is without you_

He didn’t have to wait long on the edge of his figurative seat for Seph’s answer.

_sappy. go to sleep_

Success! More or less! Zack smiled at the phone and typed out his response.

_well then. goodnight~_

He felt like he had hardly even sent his text before his phone beeped again, and he smiled brightly at the single word on the screen.

gnight

Okay, this was definitely something he would be able to do. He would text Seph goodnight every night! With that resolution firm in his mind, he fell asleep with a smile on his face.

~~

“Knock knock~” Zack sang as he strode confidently through the church doors.

“Who’s there?” Seph answered, amusement clear in his voice.

Zack’s heart - like all the other dozen times he had visited - did a backflip from joy when he heard Seph’s voice, and he subconsciously increased his pace. “Me!”

Seph laughed and stood up from his crouch. “I don’t think you got the point of that one down, babe”.

Zack’s heart swelled at the nickname, and he rushed the last few steps to finally put his arms around Seph’s hips. “You’re just not at my level yet”.

“Oh yeah?” Seph teased and leaned down over him. “Get up here an’ say that to my face”.

Zack laughed and reached up to place a quick kiss on Seph’s lips. “Your face deserves better”.

“Damn right, it does”, Seph agreed and kissed him in turn, sliding one of his hands into Zack’s hair.

Zack leaned into the touch, letting out a pleased sound when Seph began petting at his hair. Then, he remembered what he had come here to do. He pulled back slightly to break the kiss. “Hey, I wanted to ask you something”.

Seph looked surprised at the interruption, but smiled and nodded. “Sure. Ask away”.

Zack took a deep breath. _Don’t make a big deal out of it._ _Just ask._ “Are we...” he began, looking up at Seph with a hopeful smile, “dating now?”

The look Seph gave him was a perfect mix of incredulous and amused, with just a hint of worried, and his hand stilled in Zack’s hair. “... You think we aren’t?”

“No!” Zack exclaimed, before falling silent to consider this properly. “Or... I dunno... maybe?”

Seph raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you want us to be dating?”

Zack nodded. “Yeah, definitely!” A thought hit him, and his smile faltered. “Do _you_ want us to?”

Seph smiled softly and his hand began petting Zack’s hair again. “Yeah”.

Zack felt his own smile return full force. “Great! I promise I’ll make sure to keep dropping in every chance I get!”

The look in Seph’s eyes seemed to grow incredibly gentle and he pressed a soft kiss to the side of Zack’s nose. “Then I’ll be sure to keep waiting for you”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let the soft fluffy romance begin!  
> For the sake of this fic, I have decided that Zack is an Aries, and that his birthday therefore is somewhere between the 2nd and 20th of April


	4. A New Look

Seph looked up from his flowers and immediately let out a loud “HAH!” before quickly closing his mouth. The way he stubbornly pressed his lips together told Zack that he was holding back quite an impressive amount of laughter.

Zack averted his eyes and scratched at the back of his head. He had thought that changing his hair was a great idea - a visual reminder of how he had evolved, and also a sort of tribute to Angeal. But now, Seph's reaction was making him have second thoughts. Could he really pull off Angeal's brand of look? He kicked at the floor and pouted. “Is it... really that weird?”

Seph gave a thoughtful hum and stood up, regarding Zack's new 'do with his head tilted slightly. “I mean... yeah”, he began, and then hurriedly continued when Zack's face fell. “But that's 'cause it's different, not ‘cause it looks bad. Which it doesn't!” he added when Zack's excited face fell again.

Zack sighed and turned his eyes as far upward as he could, trying to look up at his hair. “Maybe I should just change it back...” He was almost startled when Seph suddenly leaned in and kissed him, a gentle peck on the lips.

“It looks good”, Seph said, his voice and face completely ernest. “Really”.

 _Oh. Well, in that case._ Zack beamed as he put his hands at his sides and puffed out his chest. “Right, right?” It _did_ look good. He pulled at the ends of his slicked back bangs and nodded. Yeah, he was absolutely rocking this new, mature look.

Another hand joined his in his bangs and Seph grinned at him. “Might take a while to get used to, though”.

Zack slumped theatrically and sighed. “Gimme a break here...”

Seph laughed and kissed Zack's forehead before crouching down beside the flowers again.

Zack watched him dig his fingers into the dirt before taking some in his hand and scrutinising it. For some reason, Zack was suddenly reminded of something he had wanted to ask, but had forgotten after Modeoheim and... everything. “Hey, do you know a Turk called Tseng?”

Zack might have imagined the way Seph's shoulders tensed for a split second, because his voice was level and noncommittal when he answered. “Yeah”.

“Oh...” Zack felt like he should have expected an answer like that. “In... what way?”

Seph crushed a clump of dirt and watched as the little grains ran through his fingers. “It’s complicated”.

“Yeah, that’s what he said”.

Seph looked up at Zack, then down at his hands, and finally back up at Zack. “There’s nothing going on between us, if that’s what you’re wonderin’. And there never has been”.

Zack was about to retort that clearly, _something_ was going on. That is, before he realised that Seph meant that there was nothing _romantic_ between them. Aw, did he think Zack was jealous? _Cute, but inaccurate_. Zack was just too curious by nature. “So why’s it complicated?”

Seph shrugged. “I knew him when we were really little an' met him again when I came here. Nowadays, he checks up on me from time to time”.

Zack raised an eyebrow. “Why? I never thought he'd be the sentimental type”.

Seph shrugged again. “Dunno, really. Guess he wants to keep me outta trouble”. He winked at Zack with a borderline  dangerous grin. “Too bad for him, trouble loves me”.

“Not as much as I love you”, Zack thought, and the thought felt so natural that he couldn't believe he hadn't thought about it before. It took him a moment of absolute silence and a good look at Seph's stunned face to realise that he had also said it out loud. Okay, this wouldn't get awkward if Zack didn't let it get awkward. But for once in his life, Zack was actually speechless.

At last, Seph chortled and stood up, wrapping his arms tightly around Zack and kissing his cheek. “You're the sappiest romantic I've ever met”. He lifted his hand and dragged a finger down Zack's nose, leaving a trail of dirt in its wake. “You sound so sure, but we've only been datin' for a couple weeks. We barely even know each other”.

“You're right”, Zack agreed with a nod, and then he took a deep breath. “Zack Fair, Aries, born and raised in fair Gongaga, an only child, loves cats and dogs equally, drinks black coffee with whipped cream on the side, favourite pastime is doing squats”. He winked at Seph with a huge grin. “Your turn”.

Seph gave him an incredulous look before laughing and ruffling his hair, and Zack put his arms around Seph's back, giving him an expectant look. Seph raised an eyebrow at him, but he still responded. “Seph Gainsborough, Aquarius, born somewhere, raised everywhere, an only child too, never thought about it but might prefer cats, drinks coffee with loads of sugar and also are you fuckin’ crazy, and favourite pastime is gettin' up to no good”.

Zack beamed. All of this was absolutely vital information, and he made sure to file it away in the priority part of his memory. “And your parents? I have a basic mom-dad combo”, he said with a wink. He faltered when Seph went silent and his eyes went clouded. “Hey, you don't have to answer if-” He was interrupted by a hand waving in his face.

“Nah, it's fine”, Seph assured him. Somehow, Zack didn't feel very assured. “Dad died when I was little, mom died when I was twelve. I've been living here with my adoptive mom since”.

“... Oh”. Zack didn't know what else to say.

Seph shrugged. “It's okay, really. It's all in the past”.

Zack didn't think that someone could be okay after losing both their parents, but he had a feeling that trying to dig deeper would leave him shut out completely. “Okay”, he said instead and pressed a kiss to Seph’s chin, earning him a kiss to the bridge of his nose in exchange.

As they continued trading kisses and words between working with the flowers, Zack found his thoughts constantly drifting back to that conversation. It made him think back to the last time he wrote home. Which was... never. Oops. He really should write home to his parents, shouldn't he. Yeah, he should. He would. He gave a satisfied nod. And when he did, he would tell them about Seph!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be Fair, I think both of Zack's hairstyles suit him


	5. First Time

Since Zack and Seph started dating, kissing had quickly become commonplace. Which, then again, might be the usual procedure in relationships. Zack wouldn't know. He just knew that he liked it. Hugging was great, too. Zack was a big fan of hugging. These two facts had led to one very big discovery: if Zack straddled Seph's thighs, they could easily hug and kiss at the same time. It also gave Zack the marginally higher ground for a change, which was a nice bonus. There was, however, one downside to this position. One that Zack was once again becoming increasingly aware of.

He shifted in Seph's lap, trying to make the bulge in his trousers less conspicuous.

Of course, Seph noticed his fidgeting and pulled back to give him a concerned look. "You okay?”

Zack nodded. “Yeah, it's just... a thing”.

Seph looked even more concerned. “Wanna stop?” 

“No!” Zack said with perhaps a bit too much vigour. “But...” he continued, not even sure where he was going with this. In the end, he just hid his face in Seph's shoulder. “Ugh, it's awkward”.

“What is?” Seph asked.

Now, SOLDIER 1st Class or not, telling someone that you have a boner is _not_ easy. Zack waited for a while, trying to will it away, but it was not to be. Nature truly is a most cruel mistress. Finally, he opted for the answer that required the least amount of words. He burrowed his face into the crook of Seph's neck and rolled his hips forward, his breath hitching when his semi-hard dick rubbed against Seph's stomach. He wasn't even sure if his heart was beating or not while he waited for Seph to say something.

After an eternity or maybe two seconds, Seph slowly moved his hands to Zack's hips, rubbing his thumbs in comforting circles. “That's not awkward”, he murmured in a reassuring voice before turning his head and nuzzling at Zack's hair. “It just means I'm doin’ somethin’ right”.

Zack peeked up at the underside of Seph's jaw. “So, it's okay?”  
“Hell yeah, it is”, Seph said and kissed his hairline.

And then, there was silence, and Zack was sure they were both thinking about the same thing. He was grateful that Seph broke the silence, because for once in his life, he really did not know how.

“So, uh...” Seph began, slowly and uncertainly. “Do you... want me to...”

That was a good question, actually. “Umm... maybe?” His head was jostled slightly when Seph laughed.

“Sorry, I only deal in yes and no”.

 _Yes and no..._ Zack thought. Well, it wasn't an outright no. He trusted Seph, and he had to admit he was curious. But was it an actual yes? Or was it just his nervousness holding him back?

As he got ready to explain his thoughts, he shifted in Seph's lap. And then, he froze. He felt... _something_. He lifted his head from Seph's shoulder and looked down, and then he looked up at Seph with a knowing grin. “You’re hard, too”. Somehow, this discovery made him feel way less self-conscious.

Seph had a slight red tint to his cheeks when he answered. “Seems that way”.

“Then, I have a question for you”, Zack said in a lower voice and leaned closer, still grinning. “Do you want me to do something about it?”

Zack thought he could hear Seph's breath hitch. “If you want to, then, yeah”.

Zack smiled and kissed the corner of Seph's mouth. “Yeah”. He would be lying if he said it wasn't at least partly out of curiosity, but he was pretty sure that he wanted to. He let his hand travel down from Seph's shoulder to stop on his thigh, rubbing circles with his thumb as he considered how best to approach this.

He looked up when Seph leaned their foreheads together, his piercing green eyes not meeting with Zack's. “Just stop if you wanna”, he breathed.

Zack tilted his head to kiss Seph and smiled. “And you tell me to stop if you want me to, okay?”

Their foreheads brushed together when Seph nodded. “You bet your ass I will”.

Zack huffed an equally nervous and excited breath and pressed a quick kiss to Seph’s chin, before moving his hand so he could ghost his fingers against the outline of Seph’s dick through his trousers. When this wasn’t met with any protests, he slowly slid his hand further, until his palm was covering Seph’s crotch. Thinking of what he might want someone to do to him in this situation, he rubbed gently, which made Seph breathe in and close his eyes.

“Doin’ good”, Seph reassured him.

Zack nodded and kept moving his hand the same way until he felt bold enough to try something new. Watching Seph’s face for any sign that he should stop, he squeezed Seph’s bulge gently, and then moved his hand while applying more pressure than before.

This made Seph let out a soft sound somewhere between a sigh and a whine and shift beneath him. “ _Fuck_ ”, he breathed, and Zack became aware of just how much Seph’s dick was straining against his trousers.

He reached for Seph’s zipper before hesitating and looking up at him. “... Is it okay if I...”

Seph nodded vigorously, his eyes still shut. “Yeah, please do”.

Zack gave Seph a quick peck on the lips before he scooted back in his lap. He took a deep breath to calm his racing heartbeat and pulled the zipper down, eliciting an appreciative sigh from Seph. Zack watched the tent in Seph’s underwear and noted that seeing someone else’s boner actually wasn’t as weird as he had thought. Having made this discovery, he once again placed his hand over Seph’s dick and began to rub and squeeze it, almost jumping when Seph’s hands practically flew up to grab onto his hair.

“Shit, yeah, fuck”, Seph groaned and burrowed his face into Zack’s shoulder, hands petting at his hair. “Doin’ great, babe, you’re doin’ great”.

Encouraged by the praise, Zack kept moving his hand at the same pace while Seph’s breaths became gradually heavier and more mixed with moans and softly whispered swears.

One particularly loud moan was followed by Seph’s hips jerking forward, and his hands tightened in Zack’s hair. “Zack, babe, f- _uck_ ”, he groaned and his hips jerked hard enough to jolt Zack. His hips continued to roll up into Zack’s hand while he breathed hard and clung onto him for dear life.

Zack moved his hand gently, feeling a wet spot spreading on Seph’s underwear. His shoulder pad was jostled when Seph’s head lolled to the side, leaning heavily on his shoulder, and Zack instinctively put his arms around Seph’s back to support him.

Seph hummed at this and let his hands fall from Zack’s hair to loop loosely around his back.

As Zack craned his neck and managed to hit Seph’s nose with a kiss, Seph opened his eyes and gave him a soft, content look.

“You good?”

Zack smiled back, trying not to get distracted by how Seph's normally slitted pupils had dilated.  _Like a kitten._ “Yeah. Maybe next time?”

Seph nodded tiredly. “Sure, whenever you're ready. Or never, if that's what you want. No pressure”.

Zack’s heart beat extra hard at the sincerity in Seph’s words, and he hugged him closer, smiling at the feeling of Seph kissing the side of his neck. As they sat there, Zack’s eyes were suddenly drawn to the remainders of a stained glass window, and he couldn’t help but snort at the thought that occurred to him.

“What?” Seph asked, still sounding incredibly sleepy.

Zack held back a giddy giggle. “I just realised we did that in a church”.

Seph huffed against his neck and rolled his eyes. “Trust me, there’s been more fun had in this church than you can imagine, country boy”.

Zack laughed and nuzzled the side of Seph’s face. “I’ll take your word for it”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here comes the smut, even though I struggle so much with writing it


	6. I'll Show You How I Swing

“You know, I've been thinking”.

Seph looked up from his flowers and shot him a look of fake concern. “Did it hurt?”

Zack laughed at Seph's self-satisfied grin and shoved gently at his shoulder. “Don't worry, I'm used to it. Anyway, are there always this many monsters around here?”

Seph removed a damaged leaf from a flower and shrugged. “Beats me. Not like I've been keepin’ count”.

“Aren't you afraid at all?”

Seph's hands stilled and he gave Zack a disbelieving look. “Okay, first of all, how dare. Secondly, I'd be more worried about the thieves if I were you”.

Zack frowned. “Are there that many thieves?”

Seph shrugged. “No idea. If they're good, you'll never know. You'll just think you dropped whatever they took”.

Zack guessed he did have a point. “Have you ever gotten into a fight with one? Or with a monster?”

Seph hummed as he thought back. “Y'know, I don't think I have. Everyone 'round here loves me too much”, he laughed and winked. Then he raised an eyebrow at Zack. “What's with all these questions, anyway?”

Zack averted his eyes and scratched at the back of his neck. Now that he was actually about to say it, his suggestion seemed kind of unwarranted. Still, no harm in asking, right? “I was thinking... maybe you'd like me to teach you some sword fighting?” He turned his eyes back to Seph, who looked incredibly suspicious.

“... Is this your way of askin’ if I wanna fuck?”

“No!” Zack sputtered, completely caught off guard, and Seph laughed and bumped his cheek with a fist.

“Just kiddin’, mountain boy”. He smiled at Zack, sincerity in his eyes. “Yeah, teach me all you want. Can't promise I'll be a good student, though”.

Zack beamed at him and got up off the floor, looking around for anything vaguely sword-ish shaped. “Got any good sticks around here?”

Behind him, Seph snorted. “You really are a country boy through and through, aren’t you”. Zack heard him walk toward the front row pews and turned around just in time to see him grab a baseball bat from underneath the pew.

“This good enough?”

Zack nodded and grinned. “Not as good as a stick, but it’ll do”.

Seph rolled his eyes before swaggering over to Zack and flicking his forehead. “Just _stick_ it, will ya”, he joked, resulting in an impressive snort from Zack.

“Hmm, I think I'll _stick_ with my sticks, _Batman_ ”, Zack laughed and neatly avoided the punch to his shoulder before straightening his back. “Okay, time to get serious. Can you just hold the bat like usual?” He watched as Seph did as he was told, and then raised his eyebrows. “Oh, you're left-handed”.

Seph shrugged. “Most of the time. You just realised that now?”

Zack matched his shrug. “Guess I did. That's good, though. Throws a lot of amateurs off”.

“My left-handedness or your lack of observation skills?”

Zack laughed and shoved at Seph's shoulder. “Wipe that grin off your face or I'll do it for you”.

Seph's grin widened and he stepped in close, ghosting his fingers along Zack's jaw. “I'd rather you did it yourself”, he said, and Zack felt a tingle go through his spine.

He leaned in and gave Seph a quick kiss before he pulled back and put his hands together. “Alright, let's get down to business”.

“To defeat the puns?” Seph added, and Zack let out a guffaw.

“True art can never be defeated”, he stated. Then he moved closer again and grabbed Seph's arm to position it better. “Widen your stance a bit. Try to find your point of balance”, he instructed, and looked up to find Seph grinning smugly at him.

“Are you tellin’ me to spread my legs?”

Zack rolled his eyes, but couldn't keep a snort of laughter from escaping. “In the most professional way possible”.

“Oh?” Seph arched an eyebrow and leaned closer. “An office romance? Kinky”.

Zack laughed and swatted Seph's arm. “Keep your daydreaming to yourself, I'm trying to teach you valuable life-saving skills here”.

Seph laughed. “Whatever you say, SOLDIER boy”.

Seph managed to behave long enough to at least get some basics down, and for Zack to be consistently impressed by what he saw. After only a short while of Zack correcting his stance and giving him pointers, Seph was already carrying himself way better and moving instinctively. Impressive.

“You’re a natural”, Zack said once they'd stopped. “If you keep training, I think you should last quite a while if you get into a fight”. He thought of something and grinned. “Or a _bat-tle_ , if you will”.

Seph gave him an unamused look. “I will not, if that's an alternative”.

Zack shrugged and his grin widened. “Well, you never know when you'll end up in a _stick-_ y situation”.

Seph's voice had an underlying tone of murder. “Zack, I swear if you don't stop right now I will put you on timeout”.

Zack nodded. “Yeah, we should probably stop. You look a bit _battered_ ”.

“... That's it, I'm throwing you out”.

Zack danced away before Seph could start shoving him toward the door. “Feel free to try. Won't do you any good though, you have the anatomy of a _stick_ figure”.

Seph stopped in his tracks. “... Wow. I really expected you to do better than that”.

Zack _batted_ his eyes at him. “Don't you mean _bat-_ ter?”

Seph drew himself up to his full height  and crossed his arms. “Get out of my church”. He thought for a second and then added, “And go buy me some fries with the good stuff on them”.

“Yes, sir”, Zack said with a salute and retreated. For now. When he reached the door, he thought of something, and turned around. “By the way, if you ever get a real sword you should get a lighter, thinner one. It'd suit your fighting style better than a big, clunky one”.

Seph managed to both look gracious and utterly indifferent at the same time. “Thanks, I'll keep that in mind”.

Zack nodded and took another step before he stopped again and turned to grin at Seph. “Y'know, fries are basically potato sticks”. He ducked to avoid the gardening spade that whistled past his head at an alarming velocity, and then hastily made a tactical retreat through the door while Seph shouted after him.

“Timeout, _now!_ ”

~~

Zack twirled slowly in his chair, a pencil squeezed between his upper lip and his nose as he stared at the ceiling. His parents had never owned a phone, so he had been meaning to write home since the day he enrolled, which felt like an impossibly long time ago. But for some reason, he just kept postponing it. What was he even going to write? What should he write? What _could_ he write? It was common practice for letters to be proofread and for even remotely confidential details to be blacked out. Not that Zack wanted to worry his parents by telling them about the whole Genesis and Angeal thing, anyway. But it’d be nice to be able to talk to them about things.

No, the real problem was that almost everything he had been doing these past four years was connected to the military, and therefore either utterly boring or confidential. Nothing to write home about, really. Except that he’d made 1st, of course. Then again, so much had happened back in april that he hadn’t really had the time or the will to sit still and write it all down. Gods, everything was just such a mess.

Except one thing. One glorious, beautiful, _wonderful_ thing.

Zack felt his face crack open into a huge smile and he expertly caught the pencil before it fell to the floor. He spun the chair back to face his desk and started to write.

 

> _Hi mom, hi dad! I know I haven’t written home yet, but things have been just a bit crazy around here. I can’t really go into the details - too much maybe confidential stuff to even bother sorting it out. I have some news for you, though. Two things. Thing 1: I made SOLDIER 1st Class back in April! That earned me some street cred and - most importantly - a brand new set of clothes! Meaning no more purple, now black is the way to go!_
> 
> _Thing 2, which I’m really excited to tell you both about, is.... I got a boyfriend! Tada! He’s not with the Shinra, he grows flowers in the slums. I don’t know how he makes them grow in Midgar of all places, but he does, and they’re just as pretty as the ones back home. Speaking of pretty, the man himself is_ _really_ _pretty! Definitely the most beautiful person I ever saw, that’s for sure. I’d send you a picture, but I only have the ones on my phone. He looks great in photos by the way. I don’t know how he does it, but he always just looks perfect as soon as you point a camera at him?? It’s incredible._
> 
> _Also, did you know that you can’t see the sky from the slums? It never really hit me that the plate actually blocks out all the light from above. That’s part of the reason why it’s so incredible that flowers can still grow below the plate. So we’ve decided to start selling his flowers to brighten up the city. We call it: “Operation: Midgar full of flowers, wallet full of money”. I’m going to help him build a wagon so he can sell a lot of flowers at the same time, so Midgar will be filled with flowers in no time!_
> 
> _He’s also not only the prettiest person alive; he also seems to have a knack for sword fighting! I started teaching him some basics today, since there have been more troublemakers and monsters in the slums than usual lately. I’ve told him to call me if something happens, but I’m away on missions so often that I’m afraid something might happen to him while I’m gone... He says he’s fine, though. He’s friends with almost everyone in the slums, so he reckons people won’t want to start anything with him and that he can keep avoiding the monsters. I like to think he’s right, but I still worry. Is that normal when you’re in love? Because I am, really. I’m incredibly in love, and I kind of wish I could talk to you about it. I really hope you get to meet him someday. He’s funny and smart and I’m sure you’ll love him! I think he’d like Gongaga, too, even though he’s a bit of a city boy. He told me that he misses the sky, so one day, I want to take him to see it. I want him to be able to look right up at the sky and the stars. It sounds silly, I know, but the only thing I want right now is for him to be happy. The only thing I want is to give him the sky._
> 
> _//Zack_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey batter batter hey batter batter swing~


	7. Hands Coming In Handy

Zack broke away briefly from the kiss to catch his breath, looking down at Seph with a knowing grin. He scooted back slightly in Seph’s lap and reached down to grope at the bulge in Seph’s trousers, earning him a quiet gasp and a series of kisses along the cheekbone.

This had happened enough times by now to not really be that embarrassing or awkward anymore. It kind of felt like kissing, except not at all and also stronger, if that even makes sense. Zack wasn’t sure that that actually made any sense at all, but the bottom line was that jerking his boyfriend off was a nice thing that happened sometimes... and he was starting to get curious. And hard. Again.

He recaptured Seph’s lips, licking at his bottom lip while he rolled his hips down into Seph’s. He gasped at the almost miniscule friction and ground his hips down harder, holding back a moan as he pulled away from the kiss.

“Hey... I think I want to now”, he said, before he reconsidered his wording and nodded confidently. “Yeah, I want to”. He looked down at Seph, who looked back with a hard-to-read expression as his hands landed on Zack’s hips.

“You know you don’t have to feel pressured into anythin’”, he said, and Zack smiled and pecked him on the mouth.

“I know, and I’m not”.

Seph still looked unsure, so Zack kissed him again, deeper, and rolled his hips down slowly. When he broke the kiss, he leaned their foreheads together and sighed. “I love you”.

Seph made a strained sound and his grip on Zack's hips tightened slightly. “Zack...” He took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay. We’ll stop whenever you want to, so just tell me”.

Zack nodded and kissed him again. “And we’ll stop whenever you want to”. He rubbed his hand over Seph's bulge, which made Seph let out a moan disguised as a huff, and then Zack reached down with his other hand to unzip Seph's trousers. He kissed the bridge of his nose as he pulled Seph's dick out of his underwear and wrapped his hand around it, rubbing teasingly at the head with his thumb.

Seph made a soft keening noise and moved his hands from Zack’s hips to the top of his thighs, stroking gently. When he didn’t make the next obvious move, Zack rolled his hips and added just a bit more pressure on Seph’s dick.

“Doing fine”, he breathed and pressed a reassuring kiss to Seph’s temple.

He heard Seph take a deep breath. “You’ll tell me if you wanna stop, yeah?”

Zack smiled. “I will”, he promised.

He knew it was coming, but his breath still hitched when Seph cupped his dick and started to alternate between squeezing and rubbing it through his trousers. “Seph”, he gasped and slid his free hand into the hair at the back of Seph’s head, above his braid. “Seph...”

Seph puffed a breath against Zack’s cheek, followed by a kiss. “Doin’ okay?” he murmured over the sound of him pulling down Zack's zipper.

Zack nodded and swiped his thumb over the head of Seph’s dick, causing Seph to huff out a sigh and lean his head onto Zack’s shoulder. “Yeah, I’m doing great”.

“Tootin’ your own horn a bit now, dontcha think”, Seph murmured and immediately bit back a moan when Zack rubbed his thumb over that spot beneath the head.

“Maybe”, Zack joked before letting out a surprised moan and tangling his hand into Seph’s hair. He felt Seph’s breathless laugh more than heard it, but the main part of his focus was fixed on the way Seph was now working his hand around his dick, withwith not in-between to dull the sensation. Then, Seph did _something_ and Zack’s whole body suddenly twitched in response and he moaned loudly. “Seph”, he keened and leaned his head onto Seph’s. “Angel, that feels so good”.

Seph answered with a satisfied hum. “Mmm, you’re pullin’ my hair, baby”.

Zack immediately loosened his grip on Seph’s hair, which was met with a dismayed sound.

“No, I mean...” Seph complained, burrowing his face further into Zack’s shoulder so that the rest came out as a muffled murmur. “I like it. Feel free to pull harder”. He twisted his hand around the head of Zack’s dick, and Zack instinctively tightened the fist in his hair again.

“That’s good, baby”, Seph cooed and twisted his hand that same way again, and Zack felt his hips thrust into the touch without permission. “You’re doin’ great, baby”.

Zack exhaled shakily, almost embarrassed at the little moan that slipped out along with it. He tried to twist his hand similarly to how Seph was doing it and was rewarded with a grunt and a kiss to the collarbone. He did it again, sliding his hand down afterwards to run his thumb along the vein on the underside of Seph’s cock.

Seph shivered in his arms and moaned into his neck as Zack repeated this new pattern. “Fuck, babe”. He increased the pace of his own hand and breathed heavily. “I’m close, baby, I’m real close”.

Zack nodded, not trusting himself to actually be able to speak instead of just moaning. “Mhm”, he managed and sped up his hand a bit too, biting his lip as Seph trailed kisses along his neck. His hips jerked forward again and his whole body shook as he came, letting out a deep groan and gripping tightly onto Seph's hair.

Seph moaned and kept kissing at his neck, and Zack felt something sticky on his hand as Seph's hand joined his on Seph’s dick. After a couple of quick, short strokes, Seph moaned loudly into Zack's shoulder and his hips moved and jostled Zack. Then Seph's hand wrapped around Zack's dick again, moving loosely up and down, and Zack had just about enough leftover brainpower to do the same for Seph.

He glanced down, considering the white mess, and everything just felt floaty and right. He kissed whatever part of Seph's face it was that he could reach before leaning to the side, aiming to pull Seph along with him, and succeeding.

Turns out, cuddling on an old, wooden floor wasn't actually so bad, and Zack stroked the back of Seph's head. “I love you”, he said, and his whole body was filled with a feeling of elation at the truth in those words.

Seph moved closer, still with his head hidden in the crook of his neck, and sighed. “Yeah, me too”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *to the melody of the wedding march* Here comes the smut~ Here comes the smut~~


	8. Hair

“I’ve never seen you with your hair down”, Zack observed, not really sure where that particular realisation had come from. His head was jostled when Seph shrugged, and he had to rework his position to once again lean comfortably on Seph’s shoulder.

“Yeah”, Seph said simply. After a curious look from Zack, he elaborated. “It gets in the way and it tangles like crazy, so I keep it braided most of the time”.

Zack frowned. “Why don’t you just cut it?”

Seph looked at him like he was a madman who was also an alien. “After how much fuckin’ time it took to grow it out this long? Never”.

Zack guessed he had a point. “Makes sense”, he conceded and wrapped his arms tighter around Seph. Being with Seph was always such a nice change of pace. He smiled and let his eyes fall shut, fully content to fall asleep if that was what fate had in store for him that day.

“You wanna see it?”

Zack cracked open one eye at the question and peered up at Seph. “See what?”

Seph cocked an eyebrow, a soft smile pulling at his mouth. “... My hair? Down?”

Zack perked up instantly and nodded. “Yeah!” He moved out of the way to let Seph stand up, and then it hit him. He looked up at Seph with a grin. “Rapunseph, Rapunseph, let down your hair”.

The cold stare Seph gave him was unwavering and devoid of emotion. “... Y’know what, I changed my mind”, he said and went to sit down again.

“Nooooo”, Zack exclaimed despairingly and theatrically threw himself forward to cling onto Seph’s legs. “I’m sorry! I’ll behave, promise!”

Seph looked down upon his begging form like a god waiting to pass judgment. Then he snorted and gently swatted the top of Zack’s head. “Alright, since you ask so nicely”, he agreed and grabbed his braid, removing the hairband from the tip of the braid. Immediately, the braid started to unravel, and Seph combed his fingers through it to help it along. When the whole braid had been unraveled, he untied the ribbon from the top, tossed his hair back over his shoulder and straightened his back. “Okay”, he said and spun around on the spot, “there you go”.

Zack was speechless. He stared wide-eyed at the glorious display in front of him, his whole body filled with the desire to just get his hands in that silvery waterfall. “Angel, you’re so beautiful”, he gasped, painfully aware that this didn’t even describe half of his feelings.

Seph met his adoring gaze for a second before he turned his head, hiding his face behind his bangs. That usually meant he was blushing. _Aww._

Zack stood up and brushed some of Seph’s hair behind his ear, revelling at how silky it felt.  “You’re so pretty”, he said and kissed Seph’s jaw while he let his hand keep running through that same lock of hair, until he finally reached the tip. He twirled it slowly around his fingers and placed a string of kisses along Seph’s jawline. “You’re gorgeous”, he murmured against his skin, and he could’ve sworn he felt Seph shudder. He slid his hand into the hair at the back of Seph’s head, scratching lightly before moving down, combing through his hair. “You’re so, _so_ beautiful”.

This time, Seph definitely shuddered. “Well, y’know, that’s just my lot in life”, he joked, but his voice sounded a bit strained.

“Hey, you okay?” Zack asked, suddenly worried that he’d said something wrong.

Seph nodded and finally peeked out from behind his bangs to give him a reassuring smile. “I’m fine”.

Zack waited. It felt like there was something more that should be said. He kept combing his hand through Seph’s hair and kissing the corner of his jaw while Seph placed his arms around Zack’s shoulders in a loose hug. Their chests bumped together when Seph took a deep breath.

“I used to hide my hair when I was little. Before I came here. Don’t ask why, ‘cause I won’t tell you”.

Zack nodded and nuzzled Seph’s neck, trying to silently encourage him to continue.

After another bout of silence, Seph spoke again. “And if you did ask, that might put you in a... _hairy_ situation”.

Zack’s face split into a huge smile and he hugged Seph closer. “That was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever _hair_ -d you say”.

Seph went comically rigid in his arms before both his hands landed on Zack’s shoulders and pushed him away at arm’s length. “... I don’t even know what to say to explain how disappointed and _disgusted_ I am right now”.

Zack laughed and waggled his eyebrows. “You could try telling me how much you love me”, he suggested.

Seph snorted and flicked his forehead. “Fat chance, you absolute disgrace”, he said before he hugged Zack closer again and kissed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahahaha, my April fool's joke is almost forgetting to post this because of school stress, gotcha ;')  
> Also, referencing a tragic backstory and using puns to cover up the drama? ME? You know it


	9. Bragging Rights

Seph would never admit just how much he missed Zack when he wasn't around. And he would _definitely_ never admit how worried he sometimes was that he wouldn't come back. At least Zack had texted this morning to tell him he was going on a mission. To Icicle Inn, apparently, which really didn't mean much to Seph except that it would probably be cold up there.

Seph had lived somewhere cold, once. He could vaguely remember a shitton of snow and something like a wooden cabin with snow on the roof. Had there been stairs? He felt like there might have been, but he couldn't really remember. He had been too small back then. Besides, the cold place was where-

“Money or your life!”

Seph was jolted out of his thoughts by the harsh voice and found himself staring at a knife, wielded by a man who looked like he hadn't slept in days. Nothing unusual, and nothing that couldn't be rectified with some jokes. He smiled sweetly. “Well, aren't you awfully forward. Do you always thrust knives in people's faces or am I special?”

The man scowled at him. “I'm not takin’ your shit. Hand over your money or I'll cut you”.

Huh. Playflirting usually worked. Clearly, this guys was a notch above the ones Seph had dealt with before. Well, no matter. He still had his ace left to play. He cocked an eyebrow and adopted an air of absolute confidence. “Don't you know who I am? I'm the motherfuckin’ darling of every fuckin’ dragqueen in Midgar. If somethin’ happened to me, they'd hunt you down and skin you for a purse”.

“I'll take my chances”, the man shot back.

Well, there goes the ace. Lucky for Seph, he still had his wild card. “Also, my boyfriend's in SOLDIER”.

The man fixed him with a disbelieving glare. “You're bluffin’”.

Seph met his eyes with nonchalant confidence. “You want me to call ‘im? Sure, hold on a sec”. He pulled out his phone and called Zack's number, immediately putting it on speaker. The call had barely connected before Zack's excited voice answered.

“Seph, angel! I was just about to call you, what's up?”

Seph felt his heart flare with warmth at that voice, and forced his own voice to stay level and natural. “Hey babe, not much. I was just wonderin’, what's your job, again?”

He could picture Zack's confused frown. “I'm in SOLDIER. First Class, remember?”

Seph could pardon himself for making Zack sound so dejected with the way the knife man visibly recoiled at the words.

“Yeah, I remember, just wanted to check real quick. Thanks, baby, love you”, he said, to further drive the point home, and not because it just felt so good to say it out loud.

Zack's smile practically radiated out of the phone. “Love you, too, angel~!”

Seph ended the call and gave a half shrug. “There you have it, my boyfriend's in SOLDIER”.

The man eyed him warily before lowering his knife and backing away. “Don't get me wrong”, he said, “I just have somewhere else to be right now”.

Seph nodded. “Of course you do”.

The man slowly backed away a couple more steps before turning and bolting down the street and out of sight.

Seph watched him go with an amused smile. Man, he had to tell Zack about that guy sometime. But not now. Not when it'd end with Zack worried on the other side of the planet. _I'll tell him when he gets back,_ he decided and resumed walking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is almost ridiculously short, but I thought of this and had to write it


	10. Birthday Present

Zack was lying on his back in the church, hands behind his head while he watched as an upside-down Seph poked around in the flower soil. He was fully content to stay silent like this, but a question suddenly popped into his head. “Hey, what’s your star sign?”

Seph cocked an eyebrow at him. “You mean my zodiac sign?”

“What’s that?” Zack grinned. “Zodi-Zack sign?” He laughed and tried to roll out of the way when Seph lunged at him.

Seph wiggled his fingers threateningly at Zack, who squeaked and raised his hands in surrender.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry”, he giggled, and Seph leaned back with a victorious grin and a flip of his hair.

“If you must know, I’m an Aquarius”.

Zack quickly did the math and gasped. “Wow, that’s, like, now! When’s your birthday?”

Seph hummed thoughtfully. “Now that you mention it, I think it’s tomorrow, maybe”.

“ _What?!_ ” Zack exclaimed and sat upright, rounding on Seph with an accusatory look. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Seph shrugged. “‘Cause I figured you’d make a big deal out of it”.

Zack was pretty sure he looked as confused as he felt. “Well, yeah, of course I would”.

“Well, I don’t want you to”, Seph declared and turned back to his flowers, his eyes hidden behind his bangs. “I just want things to be like usual”.

 _Aww._ Zack felt his face split into a huge smile. That was probably one of the sweetest things Seph had ever said to him. He reached out to gently put his hand on Seph’s shoulder, fingers brushing against the ribbon in his hair. “You won’t mind if I get you a gift though, right? It doesn’t have to be a birthday gift, it can just be an 'I love you' gift”.

Seph huffed and shot him an amused look through his bangs. “You know nothing soothes my soul more than material possessions”.

Zack laughed. “I do know, actually”, he said and leaned closer, letting his voice drop to a serious whisper. “I know that you’re actually a dragon”. Seph let out a loud snort, and Zack continued. “But don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me”.

Seph laughed and brushed his bangs back behind his ear. “It better be”. He pursed his lips in thought and then shot Zack a smug look. “So if I’m a dragon, are you a princess in distress or a brave knight who’s here to save the day?”

Zack considered his question briefly before he reached his conclusion. “Depends on if you’re going to be burning down any villages anytime soon”.

Seph placed his hand to his chin to look overly thoughtful. “Hmmm. Don’t think I have any village burnings scheduled for another year or so”.

Zack made a show of thinking over this information before he nodded. “Then I guess I’m a princess for the time being”.

“Well, that’s a shame”, Seph mock pouted and reached up to trace Zack’s hairline. “You see”, he murmured and leaned closer to brush their lips together briefly, “this dragon’s quite partial to princes”.

“Aw, I knew I shouldn’t have had that career change”, Zack joked and kissed him again. “I’ve never had much of a preference, as far as I’m aware”. He closed his eyes and hummed delightedly when Seph started petting at his hair.

“So you just flirt with everyone you meet, is that it? I should’ve known”.

Zack grinned at his teasing tone. “It’s not my fault that people are so hot all the time”. Then a thought struck him and he opened his eyes. “Then I guess you could say I’m... bi- _Zack_ -sual”.

The look Seph gave him spoke of betrayal and utter despair. “... You know, if you weren’t so fuckin’ cute, this would be where I break up with you”.

~~

The next day, Zack took the old steps in front of Seph’s church three at a time. He had spent the entirety of yesterday thinking about what to give Seph for his birthday until finally, he’d had an epiphany at what his neighbours had called “this ungodly hour”, “the absolute middle of fucking night” and “the worst possible time to shout ‘eureka’ at the top of your lungs, Zack”.

He threw open the doors and strutted down the aisle toward Seph’s crouching form, practically vibrating with excitement. Before he reached him, Seph stood up and turned to face him.

“If the first thing outta your mouth is anythin’ about ‘happy’ or ‘birthday’, I’ll kick your ass”.

Zack laughed. “Trust me, I’ve got something way better than that!” he promised and positioned himself in front of Seph. “And here it comes”. He took both of Seph’s hands in his, lacing their fingers together as he took a deep breath. Then he leaned up and brought their lips together in a kiss. It wasn’t particularly long or overly zealous, it simply was.

When the kiss ended, Zack pulled back enough to look into Seph’s eyes. He took another deep breath and tried to gather all of his feelings and earnesty into his words.

“I love you”.

Seph stared blankly at him for a second. Then, a smile gradually lit up his face and he leaned down, freeing one of his hands from Zack’s grip and lifting it to cup his face as he kissed his lips, then the side of his nose, and then his forehead. At last, he leaned his forehead on Zack’s head, his breath puffing against Zack’s face. “I love you, too”, he murmured and pulled Zack closer in a hug. “I love you”.

Zack hugged him back, grinning like there was no tomorrow. _Mission B-day: Success._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this AU, Seph and Aerith are born on the same day, so Seph's birthday is the 6th of February


	11. Birthday Anniversary

“Happy birthday to me~!” Zack finished his serenade as he slammed the church doors open with a huge grin and crossed the room in a couple of excited bounces. “And happy anniversary, angel!”

Seph laughed and stood up to stretch his legs. “If you say so”, he agreed and returned Zack’s excited hug. “Hey there, birthday boy”, he said softly and placed a kiss below Zack’s eye, then one on his nose, and lastly one on his lips, which Zack gladly returned. When he pulled back, his voice dropped to a murmur. “I got somethin’ for you”.

Zack gasped and smiled excitedly. “Really?”

Seph nodded and kissed him just above the mouth. “Follow me”, he instructed and grabbed Zack’s hand as he stepped back.

Zack let himself be led through the small door into the back room, eagerly looking around for something that might look like a present. This distraction meant that he didn’t think much of it when Seph backed him up against the wall. It didn’t fully click until Seph leaned in and raised an eyebrow at him that _this_ might be the present.

Seph crowded him against the wall and slowly ground their hips together, and Zack’s heart fluttered. Okay, he was definitely down for this kind of present.

He pressed a kiss to Seph’s chin and Seph nipped at his lower lip before kissing him, slowly and deliberately. Then Seph broke the kiss to start trailing kisses along Zack’s jaw and down his throat, and Zack felt his legs start to tremble.

“Angel”, he gasped and threaded both hands into Seph’s hair, petting and kneading his scalp gently. He felt something ghost over his hips and heard the sound of a zipper, and then Seph’s hand was around his dick. Zack moaned at the touch and arched off the wall, and Seph kissed the base of his neck before slowly moving downwards until he was kneeling in front of him. _Wait... Oh._

Zack swallowed as he looked down at Seph, who looked up at him in turn.

“Is this okay?” he asked, sounding about as breathless as Zack felt.

Zack nodded, not really trusting his voice at that moment. “Mhm”, he managed and stroked Seph’s hair. “Please”.

Seph nodded and rubbed the underside of Zack’s half-hard cock with his thumb. His shoulders rose as he took a deep breath, and then he leaned forward and kissed the head.

Zack felt a jolt of something like static rush through his spine and he let out a gasp that might be better classified as a moan. “Seph... That’s good”, he said, and almost hit his head against the wall when Seph kissed his cock again. His fingers tightened in Seph’s hair as he tried to steady himself. _Okay, Zack, deep breaths._

Seph licked at the ridge beneath the head and Zack almost choked on his breath, and then he whimpered when Seph kept licking and kissing at the head while his hand moved up and down at the base. “Oh gods”, Zack whispered, his breaths coming in short gasps.

Seph hummed and sucked gently at the head before he took it in his mouth, moving his tongue against it.

Zack shuddered and covered his mouth with one hand to hold back the noises that threatened to escape. Seph swiped his tongue around the head and over the slit, and Zack choked back a moan. He twined his fingers into Seph's hair as Seph began moving his head up and down, gradually taking more of his dick in his mouth.

Then Seph moved a hand down to fondle Zack's balls while other hand kept massaging the base of his dick.

Zack didn’t know where to keep his hands anymore, so he alternated between covering his mouth or his eyes and petting Seph's hair. He was getting close. “S-” he tried but broke off in a gasp and arched off the wall, willing his body not to thrust into Seph’s mouth. “Angel, I'm-!”

Seph hummed around his dick and Zack was gone.

He quickly grabbed a fistful of Seph's hair and pulled him off his dick with a wet sound, just in time to... come all over his face. Not, in fact, according to plan. “Ah, I... Sorry”, he heaved. Man, he hadn't felt this breathless ever since he'd been enhanced. “I didn't mean...”

Seph looked up at him calmly and ran his thumb through the mess on his face. “Oh really?” He shot Zack a smug grin and kept eye contact as he slowly licked the jizz off his thumb.

Zack felt his dick give one last tiny spurt at the sight and he let out the groan he'd been holding back.

Seph gave his dick a last couple of strokes and grinned. “Okay?”

Zack felt his body grow boneless and leaned heavily against the wall. He nodded. “Amazing”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zack and Seph have very different takes on what makes the perfect birthday gift


	12. Something New

“Do you wanna come over to my place sometime?”

It took Zack a second to fully register the question, and when he did, his head snapped up to make eye contact with Seph. “Seriously?”

Seph shrugged and turned his eyes back to the flowers. “If you were gonna rob me, you'd've done it already. Seems safe enough to me”.

Zack felt his face light up with a huge smile and he nodded excitedly. “Yeah, I want to!” Then he gasped with realisation. “We can go right now! We have nothing better to do”, he added when Seph gave him a look.

Seph pursed his lips, considering this. He shrugged again. “Yeah, why the fuck not”.

Zack had jumped to his feet with a whoop before Seph had finished his sentence, and reached out a hand for Seph to take. “Let's go, then! Now, immediately!”

“Alright, Sonic”, Seph said with a roll of his eyes and let Zack pull him onto his feet. Then he paused and looked at the top of Zack’s head, and snorted.

“Hey”, Zack chided and shoved at him, “no making fun of my hair”.

Seph laughed and ruffled his hair. “I wasn’t, it does that all by itself”.

Zack stepped out from underneath Seph’s touch and pulled on the hand that he was still holding. “Alright then, Rapunseph. Lead the way to your hidden tower”, he joked, and Seph cocked an eyebrow at him.

“I thought you’d already seen my _tower_ ”, he grinned, his eyes shining when Zack burst out laughing.

“You’re the most vulgar princess I’ve ever met”, he accused, and Seph’s grin widened.

“Thanks, I do my best”.

Zack rolled his eyes and leaned in to peck Seph on the cheek. “I know you do. But now, time for some manners”. He stepped back and performed a mocking bow. “Rapunseph, Rapunseph, would you allow me the great honor of escorting you back to your humble abode?”

Seph looked down at him with a smile before flicking his forehead. “Whatever you say, Sonic”.

Zack let out an anguished wail as Seph led him toward the church doors. “Why do you do this to me? At least let me be something cooler than Sonic”.

“Cool? You?” Seph pursed his lips as he pretended to look Zack over. Then he shook his head. “No way, cutie”.

Zack sighed theatrically and swung their hands between them. “If being too cute is really my fate, then so be it”. His eyes suddenly widened with realisation and he shot Seph a smug look. “So... does that mean you think Sonic the Hedgehog is cute?”

Seph laughed and bumped into Zack with his shoulder. “For the sake of comedic effect, I’m not gonna comment on that”.

They kept trading joking jabs and sometimes little kisses as they walked, Zack making sure to remember the path for possible future visits. And also for his trip back, obviously.

When they stopped in front of a small house on the very outskirts of the slums, Zack gasped.

“Is this it? It’s so nice!”

Seph twisted his key in the lock and opened the door. “Well, if this isn’t it, I’ll hafta have a word with the locksmith”.

Zack grinned and prepared to bounce after him into the house, when he suddenly froze. _Wait. Seph lives with his mom, doesn’t he?_ He did, didn’t he. Which meant that there was a very real possibility that this would be Zack’s first meeting with his boyfriend’s mom! _Oh, wow! Oh, wait? Oh, no..._

He twisted his hands and shuffled his feet while his thoughts spun in circles. What if she didn’t like him? What if she thought he wasn’t worthy of her son? What if she told him he could never see Seph again? What i-

“Zack”.

Zack choked back a surprised shout and stared at Seph, who was poking his head out through the door.

Seph raised an eyebrow. “You comin’ or what?” When Zack still hesitated, Seph smirked. “Mom isn’t home, if that’s what you’re worried about”.

Zack laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his neck. “You got me there”, he admitted and followed Seph inside.

The room they entered was small, somewhat cluttered and ultimately cosy, with no real distinction between living room and kitchen. It reminded Zack of his own home in a way that nothing in or about Midgar had before. While Zack was busy taking it all in, Seph was already walking up the stairs at the far side of the room.

“My room’s upstairs”, he said, and Zack felt his senses prick up at those words.

For some reason, he hadn’t even thought about that. He was about to see Seph’s room! He hurried after Seph up the stairs to a small space with two doors. Seph went through the door on the left, and Zack took a deep breath before following him.

He looked reverently around the room. There weren't really that many things to look at, it was pretty small, and it was the best bedroom he had ever seen. “This is awesome!” he said, and Seph scoffed softly beside him.

“It's a room”, he said, with just the slightest hint of pride.

Zack turned to smile at him and grabbed his hand, squeezing it gently. “Then it's the most awesome room I've ever seen”.

Seph laughed and squeezed his hand back. “In that case, you poor military people must have it worse than I thought”.

Zack laughed and placed his free hand on Seph's hip before leaning up for a quick kiss. “Yeah. The cool uniforms make up for it, though”.

Seph hummed thoughtfully as he let go of Zack's hand to slide both hands up Zack's bare arms, up to his shoulders, and then down over his chest and along the straps of his armor. He tugged on the straps suddenly, causing Zack to stumble one step forward, and smiled mischievously. “Y’know”, he murmured and leaned in to ghost his lips over Zack's, “I'd say they do”.

Zack smiled and leaned forward that last bit to press their lips together, poking his tongue out slightly to lick at Seph’s lips as he wrapped his arms around Seph’s waist.

Seph sighed into the kiss and slid his hands up into Zack’s hair, scratching and petting as the kiss went on. He pressed their chests together and tilted his head, licking into Zack’s mouth in a way that sent shivers down his spine.

Zack felt something stir in his lower regions and he moaned softly as he rolled his hips into Seph’s, hoping to convey his current situation and extend an invitation to act upon it.

Seph let out a low groan and rolled his hips back, and from what Zack could gather, he seemed up for it. Quite literally.

Zack pulled back enough to form words. “Do you want-”

“Yes”, Seph interrupted him and fitted their lips back together, rolling his hips again for emphasis. Well, that settled that, then. Without breaking the kiss, Seph slowly walked backwards until he could sit down on the bed. He scooted back to make room, and Zack kneeled between his legs on the bed, still keeping their lips connected as Seph lay down onto his back.

Zack reached down and cupped Seph’s dick, earning him something that sounded almost like a purr.

Seph finally broke the kiss only to pepper kisses along his nose instead. “Hey”, he said, and he sounded unusually breathless. “You wanna try somethin’ new?”

Zack rubbed gently at Seph’s bulge with the heel of his hand. “New how?”

Seph sighed and leaned their temples together to murmur into Zack’s ear. “How about you put your dick in my ass?”

Zack could actually feel the gears in his brain grind to a screeching halt. “... You mean, like... real sex?” he choked out.

Seph huffed and pulled back, rolling his eyes. “Don't be so fuckin’ archaic, we've been havin’ sex all the time”. Then his expression softened and he reached up to brush back the one lock of hair that Zack just could not get to stay out of his face. “How about it? Yeah or nah?”

Zack leaned into the touch while he contemplated the question. “I mean... Do _you_ want to do it?”

The smile Seph gave him was filled with warmth and certainty. “I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t”.

Zack looked down at him, his arousal slowly winning over his hesitance. “I don’t want to hurt you”, he said, and Seph leaned up to kiss him gently.

“You won’t”, he reassured him. Then he reached out with a hand and pulled open a drawer in his nightstand, rummaging around blindly before he found what he was looking for and dumped a bottle and a couple of small square packages onto the bed. He looked back up at Zack and smiled. “I got this, babe. Trust me”.

Zack took a deep breath. “Okay, yeah, let’s try it”. He lifted one hand and stroked Seph’s cheek. “If it hurts at all, you tell me, okay?”

Seph snorted. “Oh, you’ll know if it hurts, mister, believe you me”. He kissed Zack on the forehead before lifting his hips off the bed and pulling down his trousers and underwear.

Zack watched Seph trying to kick off his trousers without kicking him, and he suddenly felt lost. “What do you want me to do?” he asked.

Seph finally managed to free himself from the stubborn hold of his trousers and reached up to ruffle Zack’s hair. “Look pretty and kiss me”, he answered and pressed a kiss to Zack’s lips. Zack groaned when Seph suddenly groped the bulge in his trousers, and Seph grinned. “An’ keep that situation goin’ til’ I’m ready, yeah?”

Zack nodded. He didn’t think that would be a problem. Seph’s hands withdrew from him and he heard a soft click, and then Seph shifted beneath him, pulling his knees up. Zack felt something brush against his stomach and then Seph inhaled sharply and shifted his position again. This was probably the que for him to start looking pretty and kiss him, then, Zack guessed.

He leaned down and brushed his lips against Seph’s chin, starting a trail of light kisses along his jawline and down the side of his neck. Seph gasped and bit his lip as Zack tangled one hand into his bangs and continued his quest to kiss as much of him as he could.

Seph’s loud groan came out of nowhere and made Zack’s heart jump with surprise, and one of Seph’s hands flew up into his hair. “Shit, baby”, he gasped and rocked his hips. “Damn, that’s good”.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Zack pushed himself back onto his knees to take a peek at exactly what was so good. Or, he meant to just take a peek, but the sight of Seph working two fingers gradually deeper into his asshole was somehow utterly transfixing, and he was left staring.

Seph made a choked sound and kicked at him without any real conviction. “Don’t look”, he complained, and Zack turned to look up at his flushed face. “And not up here either”, he continued and covered his eyes with his free arm.

Zack stole one last glance at Seph’s ass before he leaned down over him again and kissed him on the mouth. When he pulled back to keep kissing at his neck, Seph’s lips remained parted, gasps and pants escaping every now and then.

“Fuck, baby”, he moaned and arched off the bed slightly. Zack felt a hand brush against his dick as Seph fumbled with his zipper. “Fuck me, I’m ready”.

Zack kissed him again while he undid his belts and unzipped his trousers, moaning when Seph sucked on the tip of his tongue. He pushed his trousers off and went to do the same with his armor, but was stopped by a hand on his arm.

“Nah”, Seph said with a wink. “Leave that shit on”.

Zack grinned and grabbed one of the little packages. That was one thing he should be able to do, at least. Otherwise, his sex ed teacher had failed him miserably. He moaned softly when Seph sat up and wrapped a hand around his dick, feeling it twitch at the attention.

Seph mouthed at Zack’s neck and moved his hand up and down until Zack was completely hard, and then poured some lube onto his palm to smear over his dick. “Go on”, he said, gesturing at Zack’s hands.

Zack nodded and ripped the package open, managing to take out the condom and roll it down over his cock without too much trouble, if he did say so himself.

Seph coated the outside of the condom with more lube, smiled excitedly and kissed him again before lying back down and pulling Zack along with him. “Okay”, he said and took a deep breath. “Go slow, I’ll tell you to stop if I need you to”.

Zack nodded again and swallowed. “Okay”. He put one hand next to Seph’s shoulder to support his weight and used the other to position the head of his dick against Seph’s asshole. Then he slowly, carefully pressed his hips forward, watching Seph’s face to gauge his reaction.

Seph’s eyebrows knitted together in a look of concentration as he let out a heavy breath.

Immediately concerned, Zack stopped moving, instead leaning down to kiss the furrows in Seph’s brow. “Hey, it’s okay”, he murmured and moved his hand from his cock to Seph’s inner thigh, rubbing it soothingly. “Relax, angel”.

“Believe me, I’m tryin’”, Seph responded, sounding mildly annoyed. Nevertheless, he smiled when Zack started to trail kisses along his hairline, down his forehead, beneath his eye, and down to finish by blowing an especially wet raspberry just above his mouth. Seph twisted his face away, laughing, and swatted at Zack’s arm. “You’re disgustin’, you know that, right?” He squeaked when Zack blew another raspberry beneath his jaw, and then another further down on his throat. “Gods, please, make it stop”, he laughed and turned back to catch Zack’s mouth in a kiss before he could continue his assault.

Zack smiled into the kiss as Seph wound his arms around his neck. When he moved his hips forward again, Seph hummed against his lips and arched his back a bit.

“Yeah, keep goin’, babe, we’re doin’ great”.

Zack kept inching forward until his cock was fully inside Seph’s ass, and then he had to stop and breathe for a moment. Judging by the way Seph’s breath was puffing against Zack’s face, he was in a similar situation. “Seph”, Zack gasped, but it came out more like a whine.

Seph nodded and kissed the side of his nose. “I know, baby, I got you”.

They took a moment to steady their breaths, and then Seph rolled his hips experimentally, causing Zack to bite back a moan at the sensation.

“Okay”, Seph said with a nod. “Good to go by me”.

Zack breathed in and out once more before he pulled his hips back and thrust forward.

Seph made a small noise and his hold around Zack's shoulders tightened. “Yeah, keep doin’ that”, he encouraged him, and Zack complied. Seph sighed and started to rock his hips in time with his thrusts, alternating between lifting his hips higher and keeping them lower. He frowned and kissed Zack's temple. “Hey, babe. Try some different angles. I'm tryna find the thing”.

Zack raised an eyebrow at him and did his best to angle his hips differently. “‘The thing’?”

Seph shot him a Look. “Don't you dare sass me when your dick's up my ass. Y'know; the spot”.

Oh. _The Spot._ Zack nodded and tried to remember the snippets of conversations he'd heard during his time at the Shinra. Some of the older SOLDIERS had seemed really confident in their ability to always find exactly where The Spot was. _Something like..._ Zack thrust his hips again, and Seph mewled and clung onto his shirt.

“Oh, holy _shit_ ”, he moaned, nearly choking on the last word when Zack hit his g spot again. “Yeah, right th-” He broke off into a gasp when Zack hit the spot again, and again, and again, quickly turning Seph into a writhing mess. “Shit, fuck, Zack, Zack, fuck”, Seph moaned, his hips rolling and jerking erratically, seemingly of their own accord.

Zack groaned from the friction and felt his own hips jump forward without permission. “Seph... Angel, I love you so much”.

Seph arched his back beneath him and let out a deep groan. “Zack, _fuck_ ”. He gasped and squeezed his eyes shut. “Zack... Oh gods, please touch me, baby”.

In this state, Zack would gladly do absolutely anything Seph asked of him, so he wrapped his hand around Seph's hard cock and stroked it, swiping his thumb through the precum on the head.

Seph's arms hugged him closer and his chest heaved. “Baby, baby, _baby_ , I-!” His whole body jerked violently and he let out a choked shout as he came, his ass clenching around Zack's dick.

Zack in turn moaned at the extra friction as he kept moving his hand loosely around Seph's dick. He only lasted a couple of thrusts more before he felt his whole lower body tense up and he came, unsure of what kind of sound he was actually making. He kept rocking his hips back and forth until he practically collapsed beside Seph on the bed, struggling to remember how to breathe normally again. He wrapped his arm around Seph's chest, tiredly noting that it was moving about as quickly as his own.

After lying still for a good while, Seph let out a low groan and rolled onto his side, reaching over Zack to rummage through his bedside drawers again. He produced a small pack of tissues and wiped himself off before unceremoniously slipping the condom off Zack's limp dick and dropping it in what Zack hoped was a waste bin. Everything within arm's reach.

Zack huffed a laugh at this realisation. “You were planning this”.

Seph avoided looking into his eyes. “Was not”.

Zack was pretty sure Seph knew that he knew he was lying, so he chose not to comment on it. Instead, he cuddled closer and gave a content sigh. “I love you”.

“I got jizz on your shirt”. A statement, but also an apology.

Zack smiled and pressed a kiss to Seph's neck. “I don't care”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may not believe it, but this chapter actually sets up a crucial plot point for the next chapter


	13. Drugs?

Zack frowned at his phone. Seph wasn’t answering his texts. Seph always answered his texts. Seph was also not answering his phone calls. Seph _almost_ always answered his phone calls. “Hey, Kunsel”, he said and leaned back on the couch, “if someone wasn’t answering your texts or calls, what would you do?”

“Aaaaw”, Kunsel smiled and walked over to rest his elbows on the backrest. “Is your pretty boyfriend giving you the cold shoulder?”

“I dunno”, Zack pouted and kicked his foot in the air. “It’s not like him”. He flipped open his phone for the hundredth time that morning. Still nothing. “Do you think something’s happened to him?”

“No way”, Kunsel said confidently and tapped Zack’s head with his fist. “From what you’ve told me, he sounds like he can take care of himself”.

Zack nodded slowly. “Yeah, you’re right...”

Kunsel plopped down next to him and stretched out his legs. “He probably just forgot his phone at home or something”.

“Yeah, probably...” Zack conceded. It was the most logical assumption, after all. So, if Seph’s phone was at home and Seph himself wasn’t, then... Zack felt his eyes widen in realisation and he jumped to his feet with a grin. “If that’s the case, I’ll just go see him myself!”

Kunsel gave him a lopsided smile. “Oh really? What about that mission of yours? The shady treasure hunting business?”

Zack waved his hand dismissively. “It can wait. My radiant presence is needed elsewhere”.

Kunsel laughed and shoved at him. “Then go radiate at your Prince Charming before you blind someone”.

Zack grinned even wider. “It’s not my fault no one around here wears sunglasses”.

~~

“Hell-o...” Zack called before his voice quickly died down and he stared toward the middle of the church.

Seph wasn’t sitting by the flowers. Seph was _always_ sitting by the flowers.

Zack felt a wave of worry threaten to crash down over him and he shook his head. If Seph wasn’t at the church, that just meant he was somewhere else. Simple. Zack nodded and marched back outside. Seph was well-known in these parts of the slums, so if he just asked around, he was bound to find someone who knew where he was sooner or later. All he needed was some place with a lot of people...

He snapped his fingers triumphantly and turned right, walking with purpose toward the marketplace. This would be easy.

After circling the marketplace about a dozen times and asking who knows how many people, Zack was starting to realise that this would, in fact, not be very easy at all. He sighed and looked around once more, trying to spot someone he hadn’t already asked, when he heard a strangely familiar voice.

“Yoohoo, tall, dark and handsome, look this way will ya, hon?”

Zack turned toward the sound and recognised the clerk from his very first date with Seph, and he felt his body go into alert mode.

...  _It’s the buttpincher._

The clerk gasped delightedly and waved at him. “Zackie! Darling, I thought it must be you! Come over here and have a chat, will you? It gets so lonely around here~”

Zack knew that there would be no polite way of refusing his proposition, so he made his way over to the clerk. “Hi, long time no see”.

“Oh, it certainly is, hon”, the clerk agreed before crossing his arms and leaning forward. “I saw you askin’ around looking all glum. You lose something, dear?”

Zack scratched the back of his head. Was it really that obvious? “Yeah, sort of”, he admitted. “Seph’s not answering his phone, and he’s not at the church”.

“Aaaw, and here you are tryin’ to find him”, the clerk cooed and gave his arm a sympathetic pat. “Ain’t you just the sweetest thing”.

“Do you know where he could be?” Zack asked and the clerk hummed.

“Well, he’s not at the club, or I’d know. So if he’s not answerin’, he’s probably with the boys”.

Zack frowned. _The boys?_ Before he could ask who exactly these ‘boys’ were, the clerk continued.

“If you go toward Sector 4 you’ll find a shop with a blue neon sign, I forget what it’s called. Anyways, just walk right past that sign and there’s a rusty door that leads down to a basement. Just remember to take a deep breath before going in, and don’t stay too long. Got all that, hon?”

“Toward 4, blue neon sign, rusty door, basement”, Zack repeated quickly, and the clerk laughed.

“Well, look at you, Mr. Military Man”, he teased before donning a smug, knowing look. “Oh, by the way, dear, how was your present?”

Zack stared at him as all of his blood drained from the rest of his body to burn at his face in a fierce blush. “You know about that?”

The clerk laughed. “Oh, do I ever. Our lil’ Sephy suddenly turns up after not dropping by for months, and the only thing he talks about is his wonderful boyfriend and birthdays and anniversaries”.

Despite his embarrassment, Zack couldn’t help but smile. “Really?”

“Oh, take my word for it, darling, he’s just crazy about you”, the clerk nodded. “But do tell, how was the... _present?_ ” he asked with and exaggerated wink.

Zack blushed even harder and looked away, focusing on a really interesting pebble.

The clerk laughed again. “Gods, you’re just adorable”, he said and ruffled Zack’s hair before stepping back. “Well, good luck finding your boyfriend”.

Zack yelped when he suddenly felt a slap to his ass, and the clerk grinned mischievously at him.

“And tell him ‘hi’ from David. That’ll be me, I don’t know if he told you”.

Seph had, in fact, not told him that. So, naturally, Zack nodded. “He did, don’t worry”.

David cocked an eyebrow at him. “Lyin’ to make me feel better, are you? You’re just too good for this world, hon”. He pointed over his shoulder. “Sector 4’s that way. Just keep left, squeeze through the gate and there you are”.

Zack nodded and smiled at him. “Thanks! See you around”, he said and started to walk once again. “Toward 4, blue neon sign, rusty door, basement”, he repeated quietly to himself before frowning. _But what was up with that thing about taking a deep breath?_

~~

The moment Zack stepped through the rusty basement door, he understood exactly why David had warned him. The whole space was covered in a fog so thick that it made it hard to breathe. Zack squinted through the fog and the dim lighting, and he saw a person who wasn’t Seph lounging back against a wall. One of ‘the boys’, presumably.

He walked further into the room, toward a mishmash of sofas and armchairs, and was slowly beginning to realise that the fog smelled kind of... sweet? Maybe? Not like regular fog, anyway. Which made sense, considering they were inside a house and not outside in a field or something.

When he got close enough to distinguish the furniture from the people sitting and lying on them, he finally saw the little dots of ember and the plumes of fog that escaped people’s mouths. Not fog, then. Smoke. Zack took in the relaxed appearances of the people present and made an uneducated but well-founded guess. _Drug smoke._

While Zack was processing this information, the person closest to him suddenly looked up at him and smiled warmly.

“Heeey, you’re pretty tall, y’know”.

Zack, completely caught off guard by this, stared back at them. “... Thank you?”

“No problem”, they replied and leaned back as the ember at the end of their... drug thing glowed brighter.

“Yo, I know this dude”, came a voice from below, and Zack quickly retracted his foot before he accidentally stepped on the young man sprawled over the floor. “Heey, you’re Seph’s lil’ SOLDIER lover, aintcha?” He didn’t wait for Zack to confirm or deny this before turning his head and raising his voice just a fraction. “Seeph, your boyfriend’s heeere”, he called, and something stirred on an adjacent sofa.

“Reaaally?”

Zack would recognise that voice anywhere. Evidently even when it spoke in an almost impossibly slow drawl.

Seph sat up in his sofa, causing a person who had been leaning on him to flop onto their back with a giggle. Seph’s eyes seemed darker than usual in the barely lit room when he turned to look at Zack, and his mouth stretched into a delighted smile. “Baby!” he exclaimed, and shoved at the person beside him. “Hey, that’s my boyfriend I was tellin’ y’all about! Ain’ he the cutes’ thing...” His voice grew dreamy and he looked longingly at Zack. “I love ‘im so much...”

“We know”, about three or four people responded.

“Y’already said”, someone added. “Like, so many times”.

The man on the floor sighed wistfully. “‘Magine that, findin’ love. Mus’ be like, so great, yeah?”

Someone on the farthest sofa giggled. “Danny, you've been datin’ for three years”.

Danny the Floor Man looked incredibly thoughtful for a moment before his eyes widened. “Woah... that’s _wicked_ ”.

“Zaack”, Seph spoke again and held out a hand. “Babe, come over here, yeah?”

Zack didn’t really know what else to do, so he carefully stepped over Floor Danny and walked over to Seph, who immediately wrapped his arms around his hips.

“Missed you, babe”, he murmured and leaned his head onto Zack’s stomach. “Miss you aaall the time”.

Zack smiled and stroked Seph’s hair. “You going to stay here much longer?”

“Dunno...” Seph trailed off, and then lifted his head to look up at Zack, his face earnest and his pupils so dilated that only a sliver of his irises were visible around them. “Heey, baby, what if you could, like, plant testicles?”

Zack stared at him, equally confused and intrigued. “... Go on?”

Seph looked him steadily in the eyes as he elaborated. “Would they grow like apples or like potatoes?”

“... Okay”, Zack concluded, “we need to get you home”.

“Home...” Seph repeated thoughtfully before hugging Zack tighter. “Baaaaabyyyy. Baby, hey, tell me one thing, yeah? How high am I?”

“Umm”, Zack started and thought about where this could possibly land him on a highness scale. “... Kinda high?”

Seph pondered this for a second. Then he nodded. “That’ll do”, he declared and stood up, only to wind his arms around Zack’s neck and place a wet kiss on his mouth. “Love you~”

“Love you, too”, Zack smiled and kissed him back, to Seph’s evident delight and to the sound of low ‘aaw’s from the others. Then he stepped back and grabbed Seph’s hand, navigating back into the fresh air outside and toward Seph’s house.

Seph followed him like a labrador with a slight balancing problem, swinging their clasped hands between them and humming. Now and then he would stop to steal a kiss or two, which probably made the trip take much longer than it should have. Zack, however, was powerless to stop him.

Zack was also powerless to stop Seph from suddenly singing at the top of his lungs in an unusually crowded street. Well, he supposed Country roads was pretty fitting in this situation. Although he wasn’t sure if it usually went on for this long.

Finally, they arrived at Seph’s house, which was empty, thankfully. Zack would rather not have his first meeting with his boyfriend’s mom be when her son is on drugs, if he could at all help it.

After successfully infiltrating the little house, Zack’s plan had been to just get Seph upstairs and in bed and then make his escape before the mom returned.

As soon as Seph’s back hit the mattress, however, he snaked his arms and legs around Zack and pulled him down onto the bed along with him.

Zack let out a surprised whoop as he lost his balance and narrowly avoided smashing his head into Seph’s nose. “Seph!” he chided, but Seph just burrowed his face into Zack’s hair.

“Sssshhhh, I wanna cuddle”, he murmured and wrapped his leg around Zack’s. He sighed deeply and his body went almost completely limp in Zack’s arms. “Love you, baby”, he murmured softly, and then his chest began to rise and fall steadily.

“... Seph?” With his head tucked firmly under Seph’s chin, Zack had no way of looking at Seph’s face and confirming his suspicion. “Angel?”

Seph made a soft noise and stirred slightly, and Zack’s theory was confirmed. He was asleep.

Zack smiled and snuggled closer, and Seph sighed in his sleep, his arm twitching over Zack’s back. If it was sleep cuddles he wanted, then that was what he was going to get, Zack decided and closed his eyes.

He woke up when a door slammed somewhere and a voice called something.

_“Sephy, you home?”_

_Sephy...?_ Zack thought sleepily, before he remembered where he was and his brain kicked into hyperdrive. Seph’s mom was home! The exact first meeting he had been aiming to avoid was becoming reality!

He carefully untangled himself from Seph’s embrace and stood up, considering his options. There was no way of sneaking past her in such a small house, and there were no other doors as far as Zack was aware. Just as he was starting to consider being a man about the whole thing and go introduce himself, he heard the stairs creaking.

_“Seph?”_

No, it was not going to happen like this. Not in Seph’s room, with bedhead, and with clothes that probably smelled of drugs. Zack was _not_ going to let this be her first impression of him. With his mind made up, he did the only sensible thing in this scenario: he took a running start and dove headfirst through the open window.

~~

Zack was in the cafeteria when he got a questionable text message from Seph.

_u hdre tday or ws i hig?_

Zack analysed the text for a second before he smiled disbelievingly and sent a reply.

_i was there. and you still seem pretty high to me_

Seph took longer to reply than usual, and when Zack got his next text he couldn’t help but laugh.

_u gt me. hi as fuuuuuk man_

Zack didn’t know anything about drugs, but he felt like Seph should at least try to stay at home in his condition.

_please just drink a lot of water and go to sleep angel_

The next reply was quicker.

_onky if u com slefp w me ;)_

Zack somehow managed to snort with laughter and blush simultaneously, and decided that yes, Seph would very probably be better off staying at home.

_angel please. go to sleep now and ill come visit when youre sober_

Seph’s reply made a giddy smile spread on Zack’s lips.

_promise?_

_promise. love u~_

Done and done, Zack concluded and went to put away his phone when it beeped again. And again. And again while he read the first of the now three new messages.

_lov u2. love u loads_

_lov u so much bby_

_love u lov ulove u love u_

Zack’s heart had never felt this warm and fuzzy before in his life, and he held the phone like it was sacred. He almost dropped it with surprise when one last text came through, and he smiled reverently at the two characters on the screen.

_ <3 _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The testicle thing is an actual word-for-word quote by me, fun fact


	14. Celebrity Crush: Revealed

“So, why’d you join the military anyway?”

Zack turned his head in Seph’s lap and shrugged. “I just... wanted to, I guess”.

Seph scratched at his scalp and cocked an eyebrow. “Wanted to what?”

“To...” Zack trailed off and thought back before he grinned up at Seph. “To become a hero”.

“... That’s actually incredibly cute, y’know that?”

Zack pouted. “I’d hoped you’d say it was cool”.

Seph laughed and ruffled his hair. “Nah, we already talked about this. You’re cute, not cool”.

“Such is my curse”, Zack sighed dramatically and pulled one knee up. “Well, that’s the reason. I wanted to be a hero, like Aerith”.

“Oh?” Seph gave him a curious look. “Who’s that?”

Zack shifted as he thought of how to really describe Aerith. “She’s a SOLDIER general. I’m surprised you haven’t heard of her, she’s basically a legend. I guess you could call her the main poster child”. He paused, willing himself not to think of the two other poster children. “The bottom line is: she’s amazing. She’s incredibly strong, she’s extremely good with magic, and she just has this... aura of like... I dunno... warmth? She just seems like such a nice person”.

“Oooh”, Seph teased and poked Zack’s cheek, “sounds like someone has a crush~”

“No way!” Zack protested. “How could you say that?”

Seph laughed and booped Zack’s nose. “Juust kiddin’”.

Zack pouted. “You better be. I just looked up to her a lot. I still do”, he admitted. “We’ve been on some missions together and it’s been so surreal. But she’s like, so down to Earth and easy to talk to! Nothing like you’d expect such a high-ranking person to be”. He thought back to one particular mission and his smile turned almost melancholy. “And she cares a lot about her friends”.

If Seph picked up on the change in tone, he didn’t comment on it. “Workin’ with your idol, huh? Sounds like a dream come true”.

Zack stretched and winked at him. “Nah, still have to become a hero to say that”.

“Dork”, Seph said and swatted his forehead playfully. “So, what does a hero do, anyway?”

That was actually a pretty good question, and Zack had to consider it for a second before he found his answer. “Protect people. Set things right”.

“Take off from dates to go chasing after Wutai spies?” Seph added with a teasing smile, making a blush creep onto Zack’s face.

“Hey, that was _one time._ And I apologised. A lot”.

Seph snorted and ruffled his hair. “I know you did. An’ judgin’ by the state of your wallet, you need all the extra cash you can get”.

Zack whined and hid his face in his hands. “Don’t remind me...” Then he froze and removed his hands again. “Wait, when have you ever even seen inside my wallet?”

For a split second, Seph’s eyes widened with something like horror, before his face went back to its usual state of barely contained sass. “Back when we first met. I found it when you’d lost it, remember?”

Zack shook his head. “Yeah, but you pointed it out and I picked it up. You never touched it”. He fixed Seph with a suspicious look. “Or did you?”

The moment of silence said it all.

“Seeph”, he whined, disappointment clear in his voice. “How could you?”

Seph crossed his arms and averted his eyes. “For your information, I was never really gonna _actually_ steal it. I was plannin’ to give it back from the start”.

Zack gave him a confused look. “Then why’d you take it at all?” He thought of something and grinned. “Unless you did it to spend more time with me~”

Seph stayed silent, only moving to hide his face behind his bangs. Wait... That meant...

Zack’s face split into an adoring smile. “Aaw, babe!” he cooed and sat up to wrap his arms around him. “That’s adorable!”

Seph peeked out from behind his bangs and smiled uncertainly. “You're not mad?”

“Just _madly in love_ ”, Zack laughed and kissed the corner of Seph's mouth.

Seph snorted a laugh and bumped Zack's forehead with his fist. “Don't you ever get embarrassed when you say sappy shit?”

Zack grinned and kissed Seph again. “Never”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back with a shorter chapter this time, because I really need to establish how cool and amazing Petals!Aerith is. It's relevant to the plot, I swear


	15. Cuddly Times

“Zack, _fuck!_ ” Seph groaned and his thighs tensed beneath Zack’s hands.

Zack hummed around Seph’s dick and pulled back to suck at the head before moving down again, taking it all down his throat.

Seph moaned and his hips jerked, his hands gripping Zack’s hair tightly. “Shit, _babe_ ”, he panted. Zack moved again, sucking and licking as he went, and Seph bit back a whine. “Baby, I- fuck, _Zack!_ ” he moaned as he threw his head back and came in Zack’s mouth.

Zack pulled back enough to swallow comfortably, gently moving his lips up and down around Seph's dick to get it all. Once he considered himself done, he pulled away completely, panting slightly while Seph’s grip on his hair relaxed.

“Zack”, Seph gasped and scratched at Zack’s hairline. “That was so good, babe”.

Zack smiled and crawled upward to snuggle up to him. “ _You're_ so good, angel”.

Seph gave a sleepy-sounding snort. “That doesn’ even make sense”. He pulled Zack closer in a warm hug and relaxed into the mattress, and Zack almost thought he'd fallen asleep when he suddenly spoke again. “Speakin’ of, I don’ even think you have any”.

“...Come again?” Zack immediately realised his poor choice of words at Seph's shiteating grin.

“As many times as you want me to, cutiepie”.

Zack laughed and hugged Seph closer. “I set you up for that one. So, what is it I don't have?”

“Sense”, Seph answered simply. “I think that's why you don't have a gag reflex; you don't have enough common sense to uphold one”.

Zack wasn't sure if he was supposed to feel insulted or flattered. “... Do you spend a lot of time thinking about my mouth?”

Seph laughed softly and pressed a kiss to Zack's lips. “Only 'cause you make it so damn easy, babe”.

“Well”, Zack smiled and kissed Seph's chin, “lucky for you, then”.

“Yeah”, Seph murmured and traced a finger along the edge of Zack's face. “Lucky for me”.

Zack's heart leapt at the honest adoration in Seph's eyes, and he tilted his head and kissed him again. After a couple of sleepy kisses, a question popped into Zack's head. “Who was your first?”

Seph pulled back to frown at him. “... My first what?”

“Kiss”. Zack thought that should've been obvious.

Seph shrugged. “Who’s yours?”

Well, that was an easy question. “You. Never got any further than flirting with others. Now, tell me yours”. He kissed Seph again and fixed him with his best puppy eyes. “Please?”

Seph bit his lips and averted his eyes. “... You”.

Zack blinked. “... Seriously?”

Seph huffed softly and smiled. “You sound surprised”.

“I mean...” Zack began, not really sure how to explain himself, “yeah. You seem to have so much experience with other stuff, so I... guess I jumped to conclusions? Sorry”, he finished with an apologetic smile.

“You wound me”, Seph responded, not sounding particularly wounded.

Zack kissed him anyway, for good measure. And then he frowned. “Wait, then how come you’re so good at it?”

Seph laughed and ruffled his hair. “Zack, I’ve been hanging around drag queens since I was twelve. If there’s anything I know the textbook definition of, it’s a good kiss. Among other things”, he added with a wink.

“You sure do”, Zack smiled, and blushed at what this entailed. “So... I'm guessing I'm the first one you... _did it_ with too?”

“That'd be a pretty logical guess, yeah”, Seph said in his usual cocky tone of voice, but he wasn’t meeting Zack’s eyes.

 _Well, we can’t have that, can we?_ Zack smiled gently and hugged him closer, nuzzling at his cheek. “For the record, it never mattered to me if you’d been with others or not. I still think you’re cool and mature or whatever”.

Seph snorted and flicked his forehead. “Thank you, your kind words make me feel incredibly validated”.

“You’re welcome”, Zack smiled and craned his neck to kiss Seph’s nose. “Hey, by the way, they're sending me on vacation to Costa del Sol. Do you want any souvenirs?”

Seph seemed to think it over before he smiled. “Nah”, he said and kissed Zack on the mouth. “Just send me tons of shirtless pics an’ I’m good”.

Zack kissed him back and cocked an eyebrow. “You’re not being very considerate of my feelings here. What if I get shy?” He smiled as Seph nudged him onto his back and rolled on top of him, grinning down at him.

“I just said I wanted photos”, he said smugly. “I never said _you_ had to be in 'em”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little post-coital heart to heart, nothing to see here, move along, folks.  
> Also I'm posting this from a ship


	16. Fun in the Sun

Zack leaned his arms against the railing of the ship, enjoying the smell of saltwater and fresh air, none of which were too prominent back in Midgar. For the hundredth time, he wished the Shinra would have let him bring Seph along. Honestly, would it kill them to pay one extra ticket on a ship they owned? He sighed and briefly assessed the risks involved in checking his phone so close to so much water, when he heard someone call his name.

“Zack!”

He recognised that voice. “Cissnei?”

He turned around to see Cissnei walking toward him, smiling. “Hi, what are you doing here?”

Zack shrugged. “Dunno, I was just told to take leave. What about you?”

Cissnei's smile brightened to an unusual degree. “What a coincidence! I was given leave by my supervisor as well. So I thought I’d take a little vacation”.

Something about how Cissnei was acting didn't seem genuine. And her words reminded Zack of the situation in SOLDIER. “My leave... wasn’t an order from the director”, he said. He had just been scooped up and thrown across the ocean. At least, that was how he felt.

Either Cissnei was in an incredibly cheery mood, or she was deliberately ignoring his tone of voice. “Well, it’s not often we have time off, so let’s just forget about work and spread our wings a little”. She winked at him and turned to walk away. “See you around”, she called over her shoulder before disappearing around a corner.

“Wings...” Zack repeated and sighed. Not what he would call his favourite word right now. He thought back to how Cissnei had acted and huffed. “Coincidence, huh?”

~~

“Oooh, strawberries!” Zack exclaimed, and Cissnei laughed beside him.

“I should have known you had a sweet tooth”.

Zack smiled. He was still suspicious of her, but he had decided not to let that ruin his fun in the sun. He didn't pack his swimming trunks just to mope around in them. He looked around for something else to check out, and was met by a sight so familiar it stung his eyes.

“Hey, Cissnei...” he began and nodded toward his discovery. “Does Tseng... wear that suit everywhere he goes?”

Cissnei looked at Tseng and then up at Zack, a teasing grin on her face. “Were you hoping to see... swimming trunks?” she winked.

“Nooo...” Zack tried to lie, but gave up almost instantly. “Okay, yes, _but_ isn’t it kind of hot for a suit?”

As if he knew they were talking about him, Tseng turned around to face them. “What’s the matter? Let’s go”, he said before walking toward the beach.

Zack frowned after him. He could not for the life of him understand how wearing a suit in this heat was even physically possible. “... Aren’t you hot...?”

~~

A quick swim later Zack had had his fill of having fun in the sun. It just felt wrong to be playing around when so much had happened and SOLDIER was in such an apparent disarray. He parked his wet arse on a sun chair and took out his phone to find he had a new message.

_hey bby where those pics at ;)_

Zack smiled brightly and snapped a quick selfie and sent it to Seph.

_i know thats your way of saying you miss me and i miss you too <3<3 _

He really did, even after only being apart for a day. His phone beeped and a new text popped up.

_i said topless pics so wheres the titties n abs_

Zack laughed and typed out his reply.

_angel, i love you but im not going to send you nudes_

Seph’s reply came in instantly, as if he had anticipated Zack’s answer.

_its not nudes til theres a dick involved_

Zack rolled his eyes.

_says who?_

_says i_

The confidence with which those words were delivered made Zack smile. Before he had thought of how best to reply, he got another text.

_gtg mom needs me for sth. remember the pics ;p_

Zack shook his head and dropped the phone onto the chair as he stood up. Without Seph to distract him, he felt the restlessness take hold of him again. In an attempt to hold it at bay, he tried to do something productive. Namely, squats.

Still, the thoughts came creeping, and he found himself swinging his arms a bit more forcefully than necessary. Why wasn’t he being sent on missions? Why was he sent on vacation now of all times? Why wasn’t anyone telling him anything?

He had lost count of how many squats he had done long ago when he heard an amused voice from behind him.

“Suntan lotion?” Cissnei asked.

“No, never mind that!” he said between squats, sounding more annoyed than he had meant to. “What is this? Are they putting me out to pasture?”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cissnei shrug as she walked toward him. “I think you could use some R&R”.

Zack stopped his incessant squats and groaned. “I’m bored!” He reached for his phone and flipped it open. “That’s it, I’m calling them”.

Beside him, Cissnei shook her head. “Director Lazard’s not in”. While Zack turned to look at her properly, she continued. “He’s been missing for a while now. He was the one who was funding Hollander’s research, using the company’s money”.

Zack felt his eyes widen. “...Are you serious?”

Cissnei crossed her arms, suddenly looking incredibly professional even out of her suit. “We’re interrogating Hollander, so we should learn more soon”.

Zack averted his eyes. He didn’t really know how the Turks conducted their interrogations and, seeing as they almost always got the information they were after, he wasn’t sure if he _wanted_ to know. He scratched the back of his neck and sighed deeply. “...What’s wrong with them?”

“Hm?” Cissnei sounded confused.

Zack shrugged and turned toward the ocean. “People. What are they all thinking?”

He heard her feet shuffle the sand as she turned with him. “The truth lies within each person. But even truth seems suspect once it leaves their mouths...”

Zack huffed. He supposed she was right, but he wasn’t really in an existentially questioning mood at the moment. He had a sudden need to call Seph, just to hear his voice. Seph always seemed to make complicated things feel less complicated. “Cissnei, go do something”, he said and lifted his phone again.

Cissnei sounded amused. “Calling Seph?”

Zach started, nearly losing his grip on his phone. “How do you know that? Am I being watched?” he added and glanced around suspiciously.

Cissnei let out a soft laugh. “I’d be surprised if anyone at Shinra _didn’t_ know about you two”.  She gave him a teasing smile and bumped him with her shoulder. “You haven’t exactly been keeping it a secret”.

Zack blinked. He _did_ go around showing pictures of Seph and proclaiming his love for him every waking second, didn’t he... He smiled sheepishly. “I guess you’re right...” Then he thought of something and frowned. “Tseng’s been keeping an eye on him, though, hasn’t he? And don’t lie, please, Cissnei”.

For a split second, Cissnei looked put on the spot, but quickly adopted her usual level expression. “We’ve been checking in on Seph from time to time, yes”.

Zack raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“His parents had ties to the Shinra”, Cissnei answered, simply and noncommittally.

Zack’s eyebrow rose further. “That’s one suspiciously vague answer, if you ask me”. He watched Cissnei fold her arms across her chest and shift her weight subtly, and he knew that she was deliberating over how much she could tell him.

“His father was a researcher”, she said, and hesitated for a brief moment before continuing, “and his mother was an Ancient; the only one left in the world”.

Zack stared at her, incredulous. “An Ancient?”

She gave him a look that was equally sympathetic and calculating. “You didn’t know?”

“He... never said”, Zack said, trying not to sound too downtrodden. He had known all along that there were things that Seph didn’t want to talk about, but he would never have guessed this would be one of them. “So, does that mean Seph’s an Ancient, too?”

Cissnei pursed her lips slightly and shifted her weight. “Actually, we’re not really sure. We thought he was, but he never showed any of the signs, so the science department lost interest in him”. She gave a small shrug. “We’re just observing him in case something changes”.

“In case he hits Ancient puberty late?” Zack suggested, feeling a need to lighten the mood. It may even have worked, because Cissnei huffed a soft laugh.

“I guess you could put it like that”.

The sound of running made them both turn around as Tseng hurried down the steps to beach. “Heads up!” he said and pointed to the ocean. “Genesis copies!”

Zack and Cissnei turned back around and saw a dozen or so scuba divers emerge from the water, walking purposefully toward them. The sun glinted off the weapons strapped to their backs and Zack instinctively reached for his sword, only to find himself grasping at thin air. Of course, he didn’t have his sword with him. He wasn’t even in uniform.

He looked around, scanning the beach for something that could be used as a weapon, and his eyes locked onto a nearby parasol. Okay. Close enough. He bolted toward it, yanked it out of its supports, and gave Cissnei a curt nod as she readied a fighting position and nodded back. She would be fine, that much Zack knew.

He turned back toward their enemies and frowned. What he _didn’t_ know was how there could be Genesis copies moving about when Genesis was supposed to be dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funnily enough, I'm actually kind of having some fun in the sun myself. I'm catching water bugs on an island.  
> @Square Give Zack an actual relaxing vacation just one time, please, I beg of you,,


	17. Your Chariot Awaits

The first thing Zack saw when he stepped inside the church was Seph raising his spiked bat threateningly at some kind of monster.

“You touch me an’ I’ll bash your fuckin’ face in”, Seph growled, and the monster seemed to actually recoil slightly.

“Seph”, Zack called out, carefully walking closer as he grabbed the hilt of his sword. “You okay?”

Seph’s eyes darted to the side and he shot Zack a confident grin. “Yeah. Nice timing though, babe”.

The monster seemed to react to Zack’s voice and turned its head to face him. It took a couple of slightly staggering steps toward him before it crouched down and suddenly leapt toward him at an alarming speed.

Zack yelped with surprise and rolled out of the way and onto his feet, hearing the sound of metal clanging together behind him. He whipped around and drew his sword in one motion, and hesitated.

The monster had its back turned to him, and it was fighting some kind of robot.

While Zack stood still, flipping through theories of what this might mean, Seph suddenly appeared at his shoulder.

“That robot thing one o' yours?”

Zack shook his head. “Never seen one. It has the Shinra logo on it, though”, he noted just as the top part of the machine swivelled around, pointing its red sensor light at them.

There was a sound like a gun being fired and Seph jolted beside him, letting out an affronted yelp.

Overcome with a sudden fear, Zack quickly pulled Seph with him as he ducked behind a pew. “Did it hit you?” he asked, trying not to let the fear escalate into panic.

“Don’ think so”, Seph said, examining his arm. “Nah, it missed”. He ducked at the sound of another gunshot and glared in the direction of the machine. “Fuck off! I don’t plan on gettin’ my ass murdered just yet”.

There was a loud, almost crunching noise following by the sad whirr of the machine shutting down and a thump as something hit the floor. Zack and Seph shared a look.

Zack placed a hand on Seph’s shoulder to keep him down and out of harm’s way as he slowly peeked over the pew.

Both the machine and the monster were lying on the floor, and neither of them seemed to be moving.

Zack breathed a sigh of relief and stood up, making sure that he stayed between Seph and their adversaries as he walked closer. Zack wasn’t what you’d call good with technology, but even he could tell that a robot with almost every cable broken clean in half wasn’t going to be a problem. He was more worried about the monster.

Said monster grunted and tried to stand up, and Zack held out his arm to keep Seph behind himself. It seemed weak and wobbly, but Zack didn’t know what it might be capable of, and he wasn’t about to take any chances with Seph there.

The monster suddenly turned to look right at Zack, and then it tipped its head back, exposing its throat and with it, a familiar face.

“What the _fuck’s_ that?” Seph asked incredulously.

Zack felt something clog up his throat. “An Angeal copy”. He watched the copy lower its head again, and he tilted his head slightly. “Were you... protecting us?”

The copy moved its head up and down, almost like a slow nod, before it crouched down for another leap, beat its one white wing and flew up to perch on one of the roof beams.

“Well shit”, Seph said and shifted his weight to one foot. “Now I almost feel bad for threatenin’ it. Only, it has no right lookin’ like a mutated wolf pegasus anyway”.

Zack’s lips twitched into a small smile at that, but his eyes remained fixed to the Angeal copy. It looked more beat up than you’d expect from a single fight. _It’s degrading,_ he realised. He was vaguely aware that Seph was talking, but his mind was too busy trying to understand what was going on to actually listen. First the Genesis copies appeared, then Genesis. So if there was an Angeal copy, did that mean that...

The hand that landed on his shoulder made him jump, effectively snapping him out of his thoughts.

“Hey, don’t hurt yourself now”. Seph’s tone was teasing, but his voice had a gentleness to it as he wrapped an arm around Zack’s shoulders. “How about you chill out with the overthinkin’ for a while, yeah?”

That would, honestly, be really nice. Zack took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, alright”.

“Good, then let’s build that flower wagon you keep promisin’ me”, Seph decided and removed his arm from Zack’s shoulders, shoving a small note into his face instead. “I have tools at home but we’ll need all the other shit, so I wrote you a list”.

Zack squinted at the note. And people used to say _his_ handwriting was illegible. “Does that say ‘weed’?”

“‘Wood’, actually, but I won’t complain if you bring me both”, Seph said with a wink.

Zack shook his head, but he felt a somewhat more genuine smile tug at his lips. “I’ll keep that in mind”. He looked up at the Angeal copy again and raised his voice. “We’ll be right back, so you just stay where you are, okay?”

The creature didn’t give any indication that it had heard him, but Zack imagined that he could feel its gaze on his back as they exited the church. _Don’t worry,_ he told it in his head. _I’ll take care of things._

~~

Zack and Seph had barely parted ways before Zack got the feeling that he was being watched. He looked around for possible hiding places and squinted suspiciously at a dark splotch of shade underneath pieces of a construction vehicle.

“You wouldn’t happen to have seen a couple of rogue robots, would you?”

The calm voice made Zack whip his head around to see Tseng walking toward him along the road, even though Zack was certain that he hadn’t been there a second earlier. “As it happens, I almost got shot by one. What are they?”

“A new automated mobile weapon”, Tseng explained. “Arms Development deployed them in Midgar as an anti-Genesis copy measure. These new models eliminated most of the copies inside Midgar, apparently”.

“Impressive, but why the heck did one attack me?” Zack tried not to sound as irritated as he felt, which was difficult. After all, the robot had even attacked Seph! “Can’t they tell the difference between SOLDIER operatives and monsters?”

Tseng crossed his arms. “Currently, no”.

So there was a bunch of bloodthirsty robots out roaming the streets of Midgar? Zack sighed. “Well, that’s annoying...”

Tseng jerked his stiff shoulders in what was probably meant as a shrug. “They’ll fix it eventually”.

 _And meanwhile, people might get hurt. Which reminds me..._ Zack crossed his arms, mirroring Tseng’s pose. “By the way, Tseng... I’m annoyed with you, too. You were spying on Seph again, weren’t you?”

His question was met with a blank look of complete disinterest before Tseng turned around and began to walk away.

Zack frowned at his back. “Silent treatment again? I really expected more from you”.

Tseng halted, an almost unnatural tension in his shoulders as he turned his head to look at Zack. His voice, however, was just as level and emotionless as always. “If you want to go play with Seph, you’re welcome to do so. I’m just fulfilling my duties as a Turk”.

Zack’s eyes widened. “Hey!” he exclaimed, offended beyond words. “I’m not ‘playing’ with Seph! I’m fulfilling _my_ duties as SOLDIER to protect-” Before he had even finished his sentence, Tseng turned around and walked away without another word, and Zack let his mouth close into a thin line. If that was how Tseng wanted it, then that was fine by him.

~~

By the time Zack had gathered all of the materials on Seph’s list, the conversation with Tseng already seemed distant, and once they started actually building the wagon, any leftover animosity was blown away. Zack had always liked doing things with his hands, and that fact paired with Seph’s surprising cooperation skills and their lighthearted conversation easily made this day one of the best he’d ever had.

They had just concluded an intense discussion on which Chocobo colour variant was the prettiest when Zack suddenly remembered something.

“Oh, by the way, did I tell you about this fellow outback kid I met last year?” He chose an appropriately sized nail and smiled when Seph handed him the hammer. “Thanks, angel. Anyway, we met again in Junon. He’s a really sweet guy. I hope he gets into SOLDIER, then maybe we’d get to hang out more”.

Seph held two pieces of wood together and Zack easily connected them with the nail. “Just go easy on him, yeah?” he grinned and flicked Zack’s nose. “None of your usual casanova bullshit”.

Zack laughed and elbowed him gently in the ribs. “You jealous?”

Seph’s grin widened and he cocked an eyebrow as he leaned in closer, his breath puffing against Zack’s face. “Should I be?”

“You might”, Zack said with a teasing, secretive smile. “He already asked me on a date, you know”.

Seph laughed and poked at Zack’s chest. “Somehow, I get the impression you’re shittin’ me”.

“Alright, fine, I asked him”, Zack conceded. “And before you jump to conclusions, he said yes... along with two other dudes”, he added after a moment’s deliberation.

Seph gave a loud snort that immediately transitioned into laughter. “Wow, you sure get up to loads o’ fun when I’m not around, dontcha”, he observed and snaked his arm around Zack’s waist, pulling him closer and kissing his temple. “Care to invite me next time you organise a spontaneous orgy?”

Zack laughed and reached up with one hand to cup Seph’s face. “You’re always invited”, he assured him, and Seph smiled.

“Thought so”, he murmured and kissed the corner of Zack’s mouth.

Zack turned his head to brush their lips together, and started at the sound of his ringtone going off. He sighed and dug it out of his pocket, squinting at the contact info on the screen before answering.

“There are new developments”, Tseng said before Zack even had the chance to open his mouth.

Zack frowned, feeling his annoyance over their previous conversation bubble up again. “What?”

“Headquarters. Now”, Tseng said curtly and ended the call, leaving Zack to stare blankly into thin air for a second before pocketing his phone again. He heard Seph shift beside him and felt lips on his jaw.

“Work stuff?”

Zack turned to give him an apologetic smile. “Sadly, yeah...”

Seph kissed him on the nose and hugged him closer for a moment, giving him an encouraging smile. “You go do what you gotta do, hero”.

Zack nodded and kissed Seph’s lips, lingering for as long as his resolve would let him. “I’ll come back as soon as I can”.

Seph’s lips pulled into a smirk as he leaned their foreheads together. “I’ll be waitin’”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh fuck hERE WE GO


	18. A Closed Off Village

“Sure is raining hard”, Zack commented over the sound of rain beating against the roof of the truck. There was a faint murmur to his side and he turned toward it. “You alright there, Cloud?”

Cloud gave a tiny nod, barely moving his head between his hands. “Yeah...”

On the other side of the truck, Aerith shifted to look at them. “Is something wrong?”

Cloud shook his head, but Zack jabbed a thumb at him. “He gets motion sick”.

Aerith gasped softly, her face immediately filled with worry. “Oh no!” She shifted in her seat again to turn fully toward them, giving Cloud her full attention. “How bad is it? Would it help if you removed your helmet?”

Cloud took a second to answer. “Yeah... maybe”, he murmured and reached up to take off his helmet. His normally pale face looked white with an almost green tint to it, and Aerith gasped again.

“Oh, you don’t look well at all. Do you want me to try to help? Would a Cure work? Or perhaps an Esuna?”

Cloud swallowed audibly and shook his head. His voice was barely above a hoarse murmur. “No, I’ll be fine. No need to waste magic on me, ma’am”.

Aerith didn’t look like she believed him. “Are you sure? You look really ill...”

“You really do”, Zack agreed.

Cloud sighed softly and turned to face forward. “It’s normal. I’ll just...” His voice trailed off and all Zack could make out was a muttered ‘window’ before Cloud fell silent.

Aerith still didn’t look convinced, and she leaned forward to try to peek at Cloud’s face. “Just tell me if you need anything, alright?”

Cloud nodded stiffly, the tension in his face and shoulders clearly showing that he was clenching his jaw.

Realising that Cloud would prefer to be left alone, Aerith sighed and turned to Zack, her face lighting up again. “Oh, I forgot to ask; how are things with your boyfriend?”

Zack’s face split into a huge smile. “Great! Thanks for letting me go visit him!”

Aerith smiled warmly. “No problem, I can tell that he means a lot to you”.

Zack nodded enthusiastically. “He does!” He gasped in realisation. “Oh, here, I have photos!” Zack whipped out his phone and proceeded to go through his sizeable gallery of photos of Seph, showcasing them to Aerith and the second infantryman - whose name was Dick, according to the the driver - and narrating the context in which they were taken. He tried to show Cloud, too, but he just shoved his hand away and shook his head.

“If I look at anything other than the road, I’ll die”, he said between clenched teeth, and Zack believed him.

Aerith made a small sound of realisation and turned to address Cloud. “Oh, would sitting in the front help? That way you-”

She was interrupted when the whole truck suddenly lurched to the side and the driver - Cher - swore.

“ _Shit!_ Watch out, it’s a drago-!”

There was a loud crash and the car lurched again, knocking everyone onto the floor as the car skidded sideways, thankfully not tipping over into a roll.

Zack quickly got to his feet and swept his eyes over the others. Aerith was standing, too, and Cloud and Dick seemed bruised but otherwise pretty okay. A pained groan made both Zack and Aerith turn toward the front of the truck, where they could barely see the top of Cher’s head.

“Hey! You okay?” Zack asked, and received a groan and a series of pants as answer.

Beside him, Aerith’s face took on a determined look as she lifted her hand into the air with a shout. “Curaga!”

The whole truck was suddenly filled with a pale green light, and there was a tingling sensation moving up Zack’s arms. Cloud and Dick picked themselves up off the floor, and Cher moaned from the front.

“Is everyone alright?” Aerith asked, taking in the shaken appearances of them all.

“Cher!” Dick called and stumbled toward the front of the truck. “Cherry, you okay?”

There was a rustling sound and Cher’s head moved. “I’m stuck”, he ground out.

“We’ll get you out”, Aerith promised before she strode to the door at the back. “Out of the car”, she ordered, switching abruptly into full authoritative mode.

“Yes, ma’am!” Zack and the others responded and jumped out into the rain and onto a soggy mix of grass and dirt.

On closer inspection, the driver’s side had been horribly dented by the assault, and Cher’s legs had gotten wedged beneath the dashboard.

“We can’t move him like this”, Aerith decided. “We’ll have to-” She fell silent and turned her head away from the truck, and Zack did the same.

He heard heavy thumps, heavy enough to make the ground shake. And then, the dragon roared.

“It’s coming back”, Aerith observed and turned back to the others. “Zack, get Cher out of there. You”, she pointed at Dick, “help Zack. Cloud, with me”.

Cloud visibly jumped at being spoken to. “Yes, ma’am!” he exclaimed and readied his gun while Zack and Dick pondered over the safest way to free Cher.

Aerith grabbed her staff off her back and nodded. “Good. What’s your materia setup?”

“None, ma’am”.

Aerith looked taken aback at his answer. “What?”

“Infantrymen don’t get materia, ma’am”, Cloud explained.

Aerith frowned at him, concern in her eyes. “Well, we can’t have that now, can we”. She pulled up one sleeve slightly and made a concentrated face, and a small purple orb seemed to phase out through her skin and into her hand. She held the materia out to Cloud. “Give me your arm”.

Cloud complied, and Aerith gently moved the materia over his skin, pressing slightly and nodding when it melted into his arm without resistance.

As soon as she was finished, the dragon roared again, and Aerith turned toward it with an air of absolute confidence and twirled her staff. “Let’s take care of this quickly”.

Cloud raised his gun and nodded. “Yes, ma’am”.

~~

Zack gave an excited whoop when they finally reached their destination. “We did it, boys! Nibelheim at last!”

Both Dick and Cher groaned at his enthusiasm as they dropped their gear with two heavy thunks.

“Would it have killed Shinra to send a chopper or something?” Cher complained. “I didn't sign up to walk all the way”.

“Half the way”, Zack corrected him. “ _And_ we were lucky enough to have a Nibelheim expert with us!” he laughed and slung an arm around Cloud's shoulders.

That comment made Aerith perk up. “Oh, do you live here, Cloud?”

Cloud averted his eyes and kicked at the ground. “Yes, ma’am”. His demeanor and tone of voice told Zack that he wasn’t too happy about that fact.

Aerith, for once, seemed to not pick up on any of that. “A hometown, huh”, she said, a wistful smile on her face. “Must be nice”.

Cloud didn’t comment on that and put his helmet back on instead. Okay, clearly some baggage there. Zack made a mental note to ask him about it later, but he had a feeling that he wouldn’t get a straight answer.

“Does your family live here too?” Aerith asked, apparently still unable to sense Cloud’s unease. “How many of you are there?”

“It’s just mum and I”, Cloud answered and shifted his weight impatiently.

“Oh, that’s lovely”. Aerith smiled warmly, but there was a hint of sadness in her eyes. “I only know my mother by name. She was called Jenova. I never got to meet her”. Her smile grew more somber before she brightened up again and turned toward the village. “We’ll be staying at the inn”, she said and smiled at Cloud. “You have permission to go visit your mother and friends, if you like”.

“Thank you, ma’am”. Cloud didn’t sound too enthusiastic about that, and Zack had to admit that he was getting curious.

Then it hit him. Did Aerith say that her mother’s name was Jenova?

Before he could ask, Aerith and the others were already walking toward the inn and he had to jog to catch up. He heard Aerith say something about a guide, and then she cut herself off to let out a delighted gasp.

“A cat!”

Zack watched in amazement and amusement as his childhood idol and Shinra’s most revered general crouched down and reached out her hand toward a small white cat, babytalking it in a soft voice.

“Oh, look at you! Are you beautiful? Yes, you are! Are you a handsome lady? Yes, you _are!_ ”

Personally, Zack wouldn’t have called the cat neither beautiful nor handsome. If he had to describe it, he would probably settle for something like ‘unique’, or maybe more along the lines of ‘weird’. Its ears were too big, its eyes were too close together, its snout was too long, and one tooth seemed to be physically incapable of fitting inside its mouth.

Still, the cat was obviously enjoying the praise, as it curved its spine and happily pranced up to bonk its head into Aerith’s hand.

Aerith scratched it on the head, and the cat purred loudly.

It leaned into the touch, too far, and they all couldn’t help but laugh as it lost its balance and fell onto its side, immediately rolling onto its back like it had meant to do that all along.

“Hey”.

A voice from behind them pulled them out of their collective cat stupor, and Zack turned around to find himself face-to-face with a girl dressed like a cowgirl. Were there even any cows this high up in the mountains? Zack had no idea.

The girl fixed them with a determined but curious look. “Are you the SOLDIER people who’ve come to investigate?”

Zack felt his back straighten by its own accord as he grinned. “Sure are! I’m Zack, SOLDIER 1st Class”.

“Goblin!” the girl exclaimed suddenly, catching Zack so off guard that he didn’t even know whether to be offended or not by this absolutely unwarranted nickname. The girl brushed past him, and Zack followed her with a confused look as she crouched down beside Aerith. “I’m sorry, that’s my cat. She gets in people’s way a lot”, she explained, and Aerith looked up at her with eyes full of indescribable joy.

“Her name is _Goblin?_ ”

The girl nodded. “Suits her, doesn’t it?” she smiled.

Aerith smiled back. “Perfectly”.

Goblin meowed and stretched before she stood up and climbed into the girl’s lap, placing her front paws on the girl's shoulder and letting out a pathetic sound.

“You want food?” the girl asked, and the cat made that same noise again. The girl laughed and supported Goblin’s hind legs as she stood up. “You want me to carry you to your food? You lazy monster? You horrendous creature?”

Goblin chirped happily and Aerith laughed as she stood up too. “She must be a gracious lady to not be offended by your words”.

The girl laughed and gave Goblin a loving pat. “Nah, she’s just used to it”. Then she shifted her hold on Goblin and raised a hand in a belated greeting. “I’m Tifa, by the way”.

“So _you’re_ Tifa”. Aerith smiled and raised her hand to give her a small wave. “I’m Aerith”.

Tifa looked taken aback, eyes wide. “ _You’re_ Aerith? The general?”

Aerith nodded and Tifa had the decency to look almost embarrassed.

“Sorry, I had no idea”.

“No need to apologise”, Aerith said.

Tifa gave her a relieved smile and looked around her at the others. “Is this... all of you?”

Zack, eager to get back into the conversation, nodded. “Yep. Two SOLDIER 1st’s and our merry band of loyal followers”, he declared and slung an arm around Cher’s and Dick’s shoulders to prove his point.

Tifa scratched Goblin’s chin and nodded thoughtfully. “Are there... a lot of SOLDIER 1st Classes?”

“Nope”, Zack said proudly, “we’re a small, elite group”.

“Oh”. Was it just Zack or did Tifa sound... disappointed? He didn’t get the chance to ask because Goblin made another weird sound and Tifa changed her hold on her again.  “Oh well, I have to go feed this gremlin anyway”.

Aerith nodded at her. “See you tomorrow, then”.

Tifa smiled and nodded back. “Yeah, see you!”

While Tifa walked away, Zack turned toward Aerith. “‘Tomorrow’?”

“Tifa’s our guide”, she explained, and her voice turned more authoritative again as she addressed them all. “We leave for the reactor at dawn, so make sure to get plenty of sleep, all of you”.

“Yes, ma’am”, they responded in unison.

Aerith nodded, and her serious face melted into a smile. “Other than that, you’re free to do whatever you wish. I trust you not to cause any trouble”. She left them with that and entered the inn, presumably to sort out their accommodations.

Dick and Cher groaned and heaved their packs back onto their shoulders before following her inside, looking eager to finally be rid of the extra weight.

Now only Zack and Cloud were left, and Zack looked over at the way Cloud was shifting his weight from foot to foot. “You gonna go visit your mom?” he asked, and Cloud tensed before relaxing again, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

“I guess, yeah. In a while”.

Now that was a proper lack of enthusiasm if Zack ever saw one. But on the other hand, if Cloud didn’t want to talk about it, then who was he to make him? “Alright then”, he said with a wink to lighten up the mood, “want to come check out our no doubt incredibly accommodating accommodations?”

Cloud gave a soft laugh and nodded. “Sure. Who knows, they might even have redecorated”.

Zack smiled brightly and patted Cloud on the shoulder. “Let’s go, then”.

From Cloud’s lack of reaction, they seemed to not have redecorated, and he didn’t seem surprised. While Cloud disappeared into the only room to help Dick and Cher with the gear, Zack walked over to join Aerith at the window.

“What are you looking at?” he asked and leaned closer to peek out from behind the curtains at the gloomy mountainside.

“It’s this landscape...” Aerith said, sounding deep in thought. “I could swear I’ve seen it before”.

Zack looked at her and then back at the view. He tilted his head. “Well, can’t help you there. Most mountains look the same unless you were born there”.

Aerith sighed and nodded slowly, not taking her eyes off the mountain. “I suppose you’re right...”

Zack didn’t really know how to continue that conversation, so he left Aerith by the window and went to check in on the others. “Everything okay?”

“Yep”, Dick and Cher answered in unison while Cloud shuffled his feet.

“There are only three beds...” he pointed out.

Zack looked over the room and realised that he was right. Just as he was about to propose a solution to this minor inconvenience, Cher spoke up.

“That’s okay, Dick and I can share”.

That gave Zack an idea and he grinned excitedly. “Or we can push all beds together and make one big bed! It’ll be like a slumber party!” This was, honestly, one of his best ideas to date, if he had to choose. However, it was immediately shot down by Dick.

“No thanks, you look like you kick people in your sleep”.

Zack gasped in offense and folded his arms over his chest. “I do not! I just move around a bit... Or a lot”.

Cher laughed and threw an arm around Dick’s shoulders. “Don’t take offense, he’s just jealous that I’d get to sleep with so many hot people”, he grinned and then let out an ‘oof’ when Dick’s elbow connected with his ribs.

“Show some manners”, Dick reprimanded him. “And I’d be there with you anyway, so I wouldn’t have to be jealous”.

Cher laughed and bumped their hips together. “Right you are”.

Something about the way they talked to each other reminded Zack of Seph, and he suddenly felt an almost overwhelming urge to call him. He dropped his hand to tap at the outside of his phone through his pocket, just to be sure it was still there.  He could call later. First, he had to sort out their sleeping arrangements. Then, he was going to tell Seph about the probability of a spontaneous orgy and invite him, just as he had promised. And tomorrow, they were going to sort the situation at the reactor and then he could go back home. To Midgar. To Seph.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love these two inconsequential side characters way too much, honestly  
> Also, thank you Square for the remake release date <3


	19. Missing

The sound of steps made Seph whip his head around fast enough to hurt, and he was already stood on his feet and walking toward the door when he realised that the person who had entered wasn't Zack. Seph stopped dead and glared threateningly at the stranger, gauging the situation. He could take on one basic-ass fucker singlehanded, no problem. But if he was right and the person was indeed wearing a SOLDIER uniform, then this might get ugly fast.

The person took a couple of steps forward and raised a hand in greeting. “Hi. You’re... Seph, right?”

Seph scowled. “Depends who’s askin’”.

The person stopped and scratched at their chin. “I’m a friend of Zack’s”.

Seph tried to hide how hearing Zack’s name made his entire being tense up and relax at the same time. “Which one?” he asked, trying to sound more suspicious than desperate.

The person smiled. “Kunsel. Best bud, wingman number one, primary and involuntary member of the Daily Pics of Seph Club... Sound familiar?”

“Actually, yeah”, Seph admitted. He’d never seen him, but Zack had talked a lot about Kunsel. He seemed like a good guy, at least as far as Zack was concerned. Then a thought struck him, and his scowl deepened again. “How’d you find me?”

Kunsel smiled. “Zack didn’t tell on you, if that’s what you’re worried about. I asked around”. He seemed to realise something and reached up to remove his helmet, giving Seph a wink after he did. “You seem like quite the celebrity down here, flower boy”.

Seph regarded his face for a second. He  looked honest enough, so Seph decided to trust him, at least for now. He shot him a crooked smile and tossed his braid over his shoulder. “I do what I can”, he responded flippantly. Kunsel laughed and Seph allowed himself to relax. There was just something about Kunsel that made him feel like trusting him, kind of like with Zack the first time they met.

As if he could read Seph’s thoughts, Kunsel shifted his weight and took a deep breath. “So... About Zack, then”.

Seph nodded slowly. “Still not back, is he”. It wasn’t a question as much as it was a statement, and he could tell that Kunsel knew that.

“No”, Kunsel said reluctantly before brightening up again. “But I have a feeling he’ll be back”.

Seph walked over to the nearest pew and  plopped down on it sideways with his elbow on the backrest. “Question is when”, he sighed. “It’s been two weeks already, it’s hard to just wait without knowin’ anythin’”. He fixed Kunsel with a hopeful look. “You don’t have any info, do you? No Shinra records or nothin’?”

Kunsel looked down at the floor and shook his head “Sorry, the Shinra don’t know anything either. He’s just filed as missing”.

Seph didn't want to think about what the tiny beat of silence before the word ‘missing’ could mean, so he decided to ignore it altogether. Instead, he sighed. “Missing, huh...”

He had figured as much. Zack could be forgetful sometimes when it came to keeping in touch, but he’d never forgotten to even text for more than a couple of days. So for him to not make himself known for this long, something had to have happened to him. Something big, if it was able to keep Zack occupied.

Seph mentally shrugged away the speck of worry that was threatening to explode into a flurry of worst case scenarios. Zack could handle himself, he knew that. There was nothing to worry about. Nothing at all.

He took a deep breath. “Well, then”. He shot Kunsel a smile and a wink. “Guess we’ll just have to wait for him”.

Kunsel smiled back and nodded. “I guess we will”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You thought I'd forgotten about Kunsel? You were wrong


	20. Waiting

Seph’s eyes snapped toward the door, as always hoping to see Zack strutting toward him with a smile on his face. Instead, he was met with the sight of a familiar, stern face and sighed. “What’re you doing here?”

Tseng didn’t even bat an eye. “Just checking in on you”.

Seph huffed and crossed his arms. “Just like the Shinra wants, right? To see if I've magic powers or not”.

Tseng shook his head as he walked closer. “No. I came to talk to you”.

 _Bullshit._ Seph cocked an eyebrow in the most disbelieving and unimpressed way he knew how. “Ever consider I might not wanna talk to you?”

Tseng gave him that calm, knowing look of his. “But you want to talk to someone, don’t you?”

Seph couldn’t help but avert his eyes, immediately cursing himself for looking weak. What happened to his reputation as a stone-cold bitch who took no shit?

His lips twitched into a self-deprecating smile. Zack happened, that’s what. Zack with his horrible sense of humour, his ridiculous hair, his bright smile and his sky blue eyes. Seph felt a twinge in his chest and bit his lip, trying to force himself to stop thinking. A meaningless effort, he knew. Zack had been gone for months now, and there hadn’t been a single day that Seph hadn’t thought about him.

His chest ached again and he bit down harder on his lip and slumped down onto the floor, leaning his head forward to hide behind his bangs. He was damned if he was going to cry in front of Tseng of all people, but it really was harder to hold back his tears than he would like. He missed Zack so much - enough that it hurt.

Fabric rustled as Tseng crouched down beside him, and then a warm hand landed on his shoulder.

Somehow, that simple, comforting touch made something inside Seph crumble, and he leaned up and pressed his mouth to Tseng’s.

Tseng made a low, surprised sound before his eyes slipped closed and he leaned into the kiss, one hand on Seph’s knee and the other still on his shoulder.

Seph licked along Tseng’s lips, and Tseng let out a soft moan and parted his lips while Seph grabbed his shoulder to pull him closer. He nipped at Tseng’s lower lip, sucking it into his mouth.

Tseng breathed out a moan and shifted, bringing his other hand up to Seph’s shoulder and brushing it against Seph’s braid. Right around where the ribbon was.

In an effort to ignore that fact, Seph turned his eyes upwards. His gaze landed on the Angeal copy sitting perched among the rafters, and his own words echoed in his head.

_“I’ll be waitin’”._

An immense feeling of wrongness, regret and disgust at himself suddenly rushed through him and he jerked back from the kiss, only barely managing to keep himself from wiping his mouth. “Stop. I can’t do it”, he said and moved back, nearly losing his balance in his hurry to put distance between them. He took a deep breath and fixed Tseng with a determined look. “I have to trust that he’ll come back”.

Tseng nodded, his face once again neutral and unreadable. “I understand”.

Seph nodded, relieved, and sat back heavily onto his arse. He took another deep breath and looked back at Tseng, who looked ready to stand up and leave. “We could talk, though. If you want”.

 _You’re right. I want to talk to someone,_ was what he really meant, and he was certain that they both knew it.

Thankfully, Tseng was gracious enough to not point that out. Instead, he gave Seph a small smile, and if Seph didn’t know better, he’d say he looked almost shy.

“I’d like that”.


	21. Suspicion

Seph didn’t even look up when he heard the sound of steps approaching him. It wasn’t that he had given up hope, it really wasn’t. It was just that with each passing day, it was becoming harder and harder to look up only to realise that it wasn’t Zack this time either.

Kunsel plopped down next to him wordlessly, and Seph nodded in acknowledgement, trying to ignore the lump in his throat.

“No news?” he asked, mostly to break the somber silence. Kunsel shook his head, and Seph sighed. “Can’t they like, go look for him?” he asked, his hopelessness quickly building into irritation.

Of course they could go look, they literally owned the world. So what? Did they just not feel like it? Did the Shinra actually not give a single fuckin’ shit about their own people?

“They have to know somethin’”, he huffed, forcefully digging his fingers into the dirt around his flowers. “Where was he? Was there someone with him that might know? An’ don’t tell me it’s classified, I’ve had enough o’ that shit”. He must’ve had an especially murderous look in his eyes, because Kunsel seemed to shy away slightly when their eyes met.

“I really don’t know any details; they never tell us about other missions than our own”. He sighed and shook his head. “He and Aerith were sent to check up on a remote mako reactor along with a couple of infantrymen, and then they all disappeared. That’s all I know”. He glanced over at Seph, looking genuinely upset about his lack of knowledge. “Sorry”.

Seph shrugged and did his best to smile reassuringly at him. “‘S okay, it’s not your fault”. It really wasn’t, after all. Seph knew that. He also knew that Kunsel was Zack’s friend and that he was using the small amount of privileges he had as a member of SOLDIER to try to find out what had happened to him.

Seph sighed and thought about what Kunsel had said. _Aerith, huh..._ Zack hadn’t mentioned her when he’d called that last time before he went missing. He hadn’t said anything about the mission except that it was classified. And something about a cat. Seph shrugged again and fell back from his crouch onto his ass, leaning his head onto his hands.

Well, at least Zack would’ve gotten the chance to hang out with his hero. Wasn’t that something. He’d probably been really excited. Seph felt the corner of his mouth twitch into a small smile at the thought.

Then, another thought struck him, and it was as if a dark cloud crept in over his mind.

What if Zack had been a little _too_ excited about Aerith. What if his childhood hero worship had evolved into something bigger. What if-

Seph stabbed at the soil with his fingers, trying to occupy his brain by moving his hands. There was no way that Zack would do something like that. Absolutely no way. No way in _hell._

Seph _knew_ that. And yet, he couldn’t help but wonder.


	22. Enough

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small heads up for endgame emotional rebound Seph/Tseng

_u ok? where r u_

_zack pls answer me_

_i tried callin but ur phones turned off_

_bby pls answer im gettin worried_

_zack?_

_zack pls answer n tell me ure ok_

_ur phones still turned off pls call me asap when u read this_

_zackie pls call me pls_

_bby its been days r u ok???_

_baby pls answer me_

_babe?_

_zack pls for the love of god CALL ME_

_ur phones still off where tf are u where u cant charge a fuckin phone??_

_pls bby i need to kno ure ok_

_of course ure ok ure a soldier nothin can hurt u_

_u have to b ok bby_

_zackie bby PLS turn on ur fuckin phone_

_pls just send me a txt or sth just so i know ure ok_

_bby its been a week already where r u???_

_ill come get u if u need me to, i rly will_

_baby i hate to say this again but TURN ON UR FUCKIN PHONE_

_please_

_just read my texts n call me back asap ok_

_bby all i need is to know ure alright_

_if ure doin sth classified u can just txt me a fuckin smileyface or w/e_

_or if ure in a hurry_

_i just need u to answer_

_bby kunsel came by tday n he said ure filed as missing PLS b ok bby_

_what am i sayin ofc ure ok_

_ure just busy or sth i guess_

_forgot to call in to work is that it? not that u could call in with ur phone turned off anyway_

_fuckin shinra should keep a closer eye on their ppl i see_

_how tf do they just lose ppl?? dont they have like those gps things or w/e??_

_bby this is killin me i need u to txt me back_

_i said ill wait 4 u n i still am_

_ill keep waitin so PLEASE let me know ull come back_

_bby its been a month now where tf r u_

_zackie please i just want u to tell me ure ok n that i worry too much_

_i dont even know how many times ive called PLEASE PICK UP_

_bbyyyy i lo ve u sO mubh i mis u aall d time_

_bby i lo_

_lov e u_

_i jus wantu to com babk bb_

_zack i lov u so mubh it HURTS cnme babk plr </3 _

_pls ignore that i was high_

_still love u tho bb_

_n id love u even more if ud just TURN ON UR FUCKIN PHONE_

_m sry bby im not mad PLEASE answer me_

_please i didnt mean it jus turn on ur phone n txt or call me ok_

_im so sorry i didn mean to sound angry im just so fuckin worried PLEASE dont be sad or mad at me_

_or yknow what id rather u were mad at me if itd make u answer_

_baby pls just call me asap okay???_

_did u lose ur phone or sth cause i wouldnt put it past u_

_wow fuckin imagine me jus wastin buttloads of gil sendin txts to a dead phone jus lyin on the ground_

_at least the flowers r sellin. i didnt tell u bout that did i_

_well they are. ppl seem to like em_

_s gettin darker than usual down here. winter is comin n all that jazz_

_hey bby i jus wanna tell u that i rly love u n that i made a teenytiny mistake_

_but like its so tiny u wouldnt even know it_

_ill tell u the deets when u get back but it involves a fuckin emotionally stunted asshole w a ponytail_

_i rly miss u babe n its drivin me crazy_

_i just want u to b here n be ok_

_kunsel n the asshole drop in sometimes to chat but its not the same_

_please im beggin u pls call me whenever u see this mess_

_fuck i rly am a mess arent i_

_zack please_

_hey bby its my bday today. jus thought id upd8 u_

_saw a dog tday. thought u might wanna know_

_gettin a bit brighter again now. that means uve been gone half a year if u didnt know already_

_hey happy bday bby <3_

_and anniversary if u can even call it that anymore_

_sorry ofc u can call it tht_

_not like weve broken up or anythin_

_i rllly dnt wann brek up babyyx :’((_

_i love t so mtch bby pks domt break uq w me_

_bby pls jus telk m eueythins ok_

_bb im s o srry if i mde u mad or sad_

_zackiebaby i lov u jus tel me u loe m 2_

_baby please_

_just txt me pls_

_bb uve been gone so long i dont even wanna keep track of the time anymore_

_zack i cant keep doin this_

_baby i miss u pls come back_

_baby i love u_

Seph stared at that last message, his mind riddled with too many different feelings to even begin to make sense of them all. His eyes stung and he felt something wet land on his arm. Fuck, he was crying.

This realisation made him wipe angrily at his eyes, letting out a frustrated sound when that didn’t do anything to stop the tears. He bit his lip and pressed his fists against his eyes, hoping to hold back the tears by force. He knew that wouldn’t work, but the feeling of more tears streaming down his cheeks still made him feel betrayed.

 _Betrayed._ Was that what this was all about?

Seph tried to force the thought away, but it persisted, its cold claws breaking through his skin and reaching down into his heart. Had Zack betrayed him? Was he not answering his phone because he didn’t want to?

 _No, he wouldn’t._ But even as Seph desperately tried to convince himself of this, he felt a shiver go through him and he hunched forward, letting out a sob. The way the pathetic sound echoed in the empty church made him feel even worse, and another sob escaped from between his clenched teeth. _Look at me,_ he thought sourly, _cryin’ about a boy like I’m in some fuckin’ young adult novel._

He balled his hands back into fists and defiantly turned his eyes upward. He was _not_ going to cry. He wasn’t even going to be sad. Come to think of it, why should he be sad? What he really should be was angry.

 _Angry..._ Seph considered this for only a split second before he made up his mind. Yes. He was going to be angry. Anger was not crying crouched down on the fucking floor. Anger was realising he’d been wronged and tearing down a whole city because of it. Anger was loud and brutal. Anger was power.

In a sudden fit of almost blinding fury, Seph flew up onto his feet and threw his phone at the floor, watching as the collision with the hard surface dislodged the pieces and caused them to fly off in different directions. The sight made his mouth twitch into what was probably an incredibly unsettling grin. _Good! Fuckin’ good!_ “Fuckin’ good!” he repeated loudly. His voice wasn’t wavering. Instead it bore an underlying tone of destruction, and Seph relished the sound of it.

“ _Good fuckin’ riddance!_ ” he shouted. A rustling sound made him turn to where the Angeal creature was perched, and his face twisted again. “An’ what’re you lookin’ at?!” he asked, feeling his anger well up like a tidal wave at the fact that anyone _dared_ be close to him right now. “What’re you even doin’ here?! You’re nothin’ but a reminder of what a fuckin’ _stupid-ass bitch_ I was!” He gestured to himself as his anger seemed to fill every fibre of his body. “I believed him! I _trusted_ him! An’ look where it fuckin’ got me! No-fuckin’-where at all except down the fuckin’ drain! He’s _left_ me!” Somehow, saying those words out loud made it all seem much more real – much more like the truth. Yeah. It really _was_ the truth, wasn’t it.

Seph clenched his fists hard enough to dig his nails into his palms, and he didn’t care because of that _fucking asshole!_ “He’s left me!” Each time he said it, it made more and more sense. That _had_ to be it! “An’ fuckin’ _look at me!_ That fuckin’ asshole’s _left_ me an’ gone an’ fucked off to who the _fuck_ knows where, an’ here I am, _waitin’_ for over a fuckin’ _year_ like an absolute fuckin’ _moron!_ ”

He took a deep breath and let it out in a hollow laugh. “Y’know what I think? I think he decided to run away with his fuckin’ childhood crush Aeris or whatever the fuck her name is”. That had to be it. Zack talks about how much he _“respects”_ her, and then they both disappear at the same time. It made too much sense. Too bad Seph had been stupid enough not to have seen it coming. Seph found himself struggling to hold back his tears again, feeling another, stronger surge of fury at his own weakness, and he raised his voice yet again.

“But y’know what? They can both go _fuck_ themselves for all I care! No, even better: they can go fuck _each other! What the fuck do I care?! I don’t care!_ I don’t _care_ , so you can just go fuck off you too, just like _everyone else!_ ” He threw his arm out to point to the door and bellowed at the creature. “Just _get out of my church!_ ”

The Angeal creature seemed to hesitate for one infuriating second before it beat its wing and flew off through the hole in the roof. And in its wake, it left a deafening silence.

As if all strength and anger drained out of him simultaneously, Seph felt his legs buckle and he slumped down onto the floor, landing unceremoniously on his arse. He felt tired. No, more than that. He felt... empty.

He didn’t know long he’d been sitting there when he heard footsteps. He slowly raised his head to watch as Tseng walked closer, his stoic face not revealing what he was gathering from Seph’s general appearance.

Seph sighed quietly as Tseng crouched down beside him. “He’s not comin’ back is he”. His voice was raspy and barely above a whisper, and he hugged his knees closer to his chest. “He’s left me an’ he’s not comin’ back”.

Tseng stayed quiet and, after a moment’s deliberation, reached out to place a hand on Seph’s back.

Seph shivered at the touch, suddenly realising that he’d missed bodily contact more than he’d ever thought possible. He missed the light touches, the hugs, the kisses, everything. He leaned closer to Tseng, feeling warmth spread from where their shoulders bumped together, and he felt the very last of his resolve crack.

Forcing down a sob, he turned his body and pressed a long kiss to Tseng’s lips, relieved at how Tseng responded.

Tseng opened his mouth, flicking his tongue against Seph’s lips, and Seph choked back a moan and pushed forward, pressing their chests against each other as he kissed back.  
Tseng made a soft noise in the back of his throat and a sense of spite suddenly flared up in Seph’s mind. If Zack could find someone else, then so could he. Hell, with his looks, he could have anyone he wanted! Anyone at all.

His mind made up, he crawled onto Tseng’s lap, kissing him deeper and with more meaning as he pushed him back onto the floor, licking and biting at his lips all the while. He felt a hand tug at the hair at the back of his head and he let out a hungry sound between a purr and a growl. He bit Tseng’s bottom lip, hard, and rolled his hips down into Tseng’s, feeling a sense of satisfaction at how hard Tseng was already.

Tseng inhaled sharply at the friction and clawed at Seph’s back, his other hand twisting further into his hair.

Seph closed his eyes at the sensation and made himself a promise. He was through with crying. He’d do whatever he wanted, with whomever he wanted. And he’d never regret a thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, so here we are at last, huh. Writing this fic was so much fun up until these last Seph-centered chapters that just broke my heart to write, honestly. Thank you for sticking with me through this, and stay tuned for the next installment in whatever amount of time! <3<3<3


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